r 1 






'-tt: 






.^r 4fcU #■ 




{V s 

i-- ■ 



^'''€11 









^.r^-.« 









** 






-<J*, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



fUNITED STATES OF AMERICA. * 



•\ 



VANCOUVER ISLAND AND 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



THEIE HISTOKY, KESOUKCES, AND PEOSPECTS. 



-/ 



MATTHEW MACFIE, F.E.G.S. 



FIVE YEARS RESIDENT IN VICTORIA, V. I. 




LONDON: 
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, & GREEN. 

1865. 



x 



<<^ 



DEDICATED 

(by permission) 
TO 



THE RIGHT HON. EDWARD CARDWELL, M.P. 



HEE MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE 



FOR THE COLONIES. 



PREFACE 



This volume is the first that has been published in this 
country containing full and classified information on the 
various topics relating to the colonies of Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia. It is hoped that, at the same time, 
comprehensiveness has not been lost ' sight of in the 
grouping of details. 

A few other works have already appeared ; some of 
which give valuable statistics bearing upon the physical 
and political geography, climatology, flora, fauna, and 
aborigines of these important dependencies. Some little 
has also been written on their principal resources ; but 
all the books that have hitherto issued from the English 
press on the subject put together fail, in the author's 
estimation, to exhibit the commercial, timber-exporting, 
mining, and agricultural capabilities of the colonies with 
the minuteness and prominence they merit. Had these 
points been discussed, however, in the most satisfactory 
manner, it is now several years since any extended account 
of Vancouver Island and British Columbia has been sub- 
mitted to the British public, and the progress of these 
thriving settlements in that brief and eventful interval 
necessarily renders previous volumes, in many respects, 
out of date. 



X PKEFACE. 

The first chapter is in no way essential to the complete- 
ness of the work. It has, however, been deemed suitable 
in its present place for the twofold purpose of conveying 
some general idea of California, and placing our pending 
dispute with the American Government on the question 
of their occupation of the island of San Juan in a clear 
light. Our commercial relations with the State referred 
to are more intimate than with any other on the Pacific 
Coast; and as the auriferous mountains of British Columbia 
are but a continuation of the Sierra Nevada in California, 
the Colony and the State may be said to be connected by a 
community of resources. The affair of San Juan has never 
been fairly stated by the newspaper press of this country. 

The body of the present work is intended chiefly for the 
perusal of merchants, statesmen, and intending emigrants ; 
while it is hoped that it will not be found uninteresting 
to general readers. 

The author makes no pretensions to faultlessness of 
style under any circumstances ; but the limited time at 
his command for throwing his materials into shape pre- 
cludes the possibility of any such quality here. Still, it 
may be accepted in partial compensation for defects of 
composition that he has endeavoured, to the best of his 
ability, to avail himself of the special advantages he 
enjoyed for collecting facts respecting the country of 
which he writes. The position he occupied for five years 
in the colonies afforded him opportunities of becoming 
acquainted, more or less, with all classes of society, from 
the officials of Government to the most obscure citizens ; 
and in view of the task he has now undertaken, he laid 
his friends under tribute. 



PREFACE. XI 

Till within the last seven years, these possessions were 
regarded by the people of England, for the most part, as 
a terra incognita, embracing a region of the globe inhos- 
pitable beyond description ; the scene of perpetual and 
sanguinary encounters between prowling savages and 
beasts of prey, and having no title to be reclaimed by 
industry, or visited with the benefits of civilisation. 
They still sustain the disadvantage of being more incon- 
venient of access from England than certain other distant 
British colonies, which are favoured to receive from year 
to year the tide of an emigrating population. Considering 
their remoteness from the parent country, the very limited 
knowledge of their topography, and resources still pos- 
sessed by the mass of Englishmen, and the conflicting 
reports that have been circulated in books and news- 
papers respecting their adaptability for settlement, it is 
not surprising that the most diligent efforts to arrive at a 
satisfactory conclusion on the subject should sometimes 
end in perplexity and disappointment. 

Many immigrants who have found prosperity — looking 
at the condition and prospects of the country exclusively 
from a favourable point of view — may, in some cases, have 
been tempted to indulge in representations too highly 
coloured to their friends at home. Others, having the 
misfortune to share a different fate, may have occasionally 
allowed trials to warp their judgment, and impart gloom 
to the expression of their opinions. These pages are 
written to aid in unravelling this tangled skein of contra- 
dictions, and to show that the country is neither a perfect 
Elysium, nor an absolute Sahara, but one which presents 
a field for the investment of capital and the application of 

a 2 



Xll PREFACE. 

industry, unsurpassed in elements of wealth, in propor- 
tion to area, by any other part of the empire. 

If one hindrance to the rapid advance of these colonies 
deserves to be specified more than another, it is the want 
of an emigrant route from Canada to the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The interoceanic railway scheme, so much talked 
of, is premature, though certain in future years to be 
realised. But a waggon-road, via Eed Eiver and the Sas- 
katchewan, is practicable in every respect, as shown at 
length in that chapter which deals with the question ; and 
it is devoutly to be wished that Lord Wharncliffe, Mr. A. 
Mills, and other noblemen and gentlemen in both Houses 
of Parliament, who have recently evinced so deep and 
intelligent an interest in the subject of colonising the 
Great North West, may be induced to bring their influence 
to bear for the accomplishment of the object which is 
most urgent. Could the comparatively inexpensive com- 
munication thus sought be opened simultaneously with 
the proposed telegraph from Eed Eiver to British 
Columbia, especially now that ever-strengthening induce- 
ments to emigration across the plains are held out by 
the mines east and west of the Eocky Mountains, the 
settlement of the intervening territory would soon follow. 

While acknowledging obligations to the Governments 
of Vancouver Island and British Columbia for the maps 
and blue-books they have so liberally placed at the 
author's disposal, thanks are due to the authorities at the 
Colonial Office and the Board of Trade for courtesies 
extended, and to those gentlemen of influence in Canada 
who, during his late visit there, supplied the author with 
valuable official documents. Acknowledgments are also 



PEEPACE. Xlll 

tendered to Professor Balfour, of the Edinburgh Univer- 
sity, for an interesting contribution to the list of flora ; to 
the Librarian of the London Institution, for access to 
Government papers ; and to the Eev. E. W. Shalders, B. A., 
of Eochester, for useful hints suggested by his excellent 
taste and judgment. 

London : May 1865. 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE VOYAGE OUT. 

Departure — Azores — Description of Passengers — St. Thomas, W. I. — 
Carthagena — Sharks — Scenes on the Isthmus — Panama — Passage to 
California — Acapulco — The Natives of Mexico — San Francisco — The 
Founding and Growth of the City — Discovery of Gold at General Sutter's 
Mill— Californian Life in 1849— ' Rowdyism ' — The 'Vigilance Com- 
mittee' — Judge McAlmond — Present Order and Prosperity of San 
Francisco — Fertile Valleys — A Trip to Sacramento — State Legislature — 
Meeting of the 'Democratic Convention' — Mammoth Trees — American 
Taxation — Metallic Wealth of California — Washoe — Up the Columbia 
River to Portland — Oregon Fruit — Sail to the Isle of San Juan — Parley 
with American Officers — Origin of the Dispute between the British and 
American Governments; as stated from their respective Points of View. 

PAGE 1 

CHAPTER II. 

VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, AND GENERAL 

HISTORY. 

The England of the Pacific — Straits of Fuca —The Coast Line — Geological 
Formation — Sooke — Esquimalt — Victoria — Islands in the Gulf of Georgia 
— Saanich — Cowichan — Nanaimo — Comox — Northern Extremity of the 
Island — Quatsino — Nootka — Barclay Sound — Pioneer Discoveries in the 
Pacific by the Spaniards — Balboa — Cabrillo— Ferrelo — Sir Francis Drake 
and his Adventures — Cavendish — Story of Juan de Fuca and his imagined 
Discovery of a North-East Passage — Expedition under Heceta and Quadra 
— Cook's Reconnoitre of the Coast — Kendrick — Berkeley — Meares — 
Vancouver's Mission and its Results — Grant of the Island to the Hudson's 
Bay Company — Their Monopoly unfavourable to Colonisation. . . 39 



XVI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DISCOVERY OP GOLD IN BRITISH COLUMBIA IN 1858, AND 
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE GROWTH OF VICTORIA. 

Rush of Immigration— Sudden Rise in the Value of Land — Rival Cities 
attempted by the Americans — Unequalled Superiority of Victoria and 
Esquimalt Harbours — Return of faint-hearted Speculators to California, 
and their Maledictions — Struggles and Triumphs of Miners on the 
Eraser — Hardships on the New Route — Temporary Gloom of Victoria — 
Yield of Gold for the first four Months— State of the City in 1859— 
News from Quesnelle — Things looking up — The Letters of the Times' 
Correspondent and the Immigration of 1862 — Disappointment and Pri- 
vation of the Inexperienced — Description of Victoria as it now is — Beacon 
Hill — Government House — Streets— Public Buildings and Associations — 
Newspaper -Press — Religious Bodies — Colleges and Schools — Manu- 
factories — Joint-Stock Companies — The Municipal Council — Banks — 
Price of Town Lots — List of Trades and Professions. . . page 64 



CHAPTER IV. 

VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

Principal Free Ports throughout the World — Results of the Free Port 
System in Hamburg, the Channel Islands, and Hongkong — Importance 
of guarding Victoria against the Introduction of Customs Duties — Pro- 
posed Union with British Columbia as affecting the Free Port Arrange- 
ment — Comparative Prospects of New Westminster and Victoria — Reso- 
lutions of the Island Legislature in regard to Union — Imports— Number 
and Tonnage of Vessels — Exports of Gold from 1858 to 1864 — Exports of 
British and French Goods to Sitka— Washington Territory — Oregon — Cali- 
fornia and Mexico — Commanding Position of Victoria as a Free Port, and 
the powerful Inducements it offers British Merchants for opening up Trade 
with the Coast of Western America — Facilities offered by Vancouver 
Island for Return Cargoes to China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand 
— Californian Opinion of Victoria as a probable Rival of San Francisco — 
Description of Goods suited for the Victoria Market — Rapid Increase of 
Population in Puget Sound — The proposed Erection of Esquimalt into 
the chief Naval Station of the Pacific, the Construction of a Sanitarium 
for invalided Naval Men, and the bearing of these Events on the Growth 
of Victoria 91 



CONTENTS. XV11 

CHAPTER V. 

GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Timber : Exports of this Article — Profits realised on it — Advantages over 
Canada and New Brunswick — Timber more remunerative to the common 
Carrier than Gold — Trade in Export of Railway Sleepers — Prices of 
Spars, Masts, &c. Coal : Mines at Nanaimo — Immense Consumption of 
Coal on the Coast — Chemical Comparison of Vancouver Island Coal 
with other Varieties— Imports of Coal to San Francisco — Prices — Thick- 
ness of Seam — Conveniences for Loading — Vancouver Island Pioneer Coal- 
mining Company — Quantities shipped from Nanaimo — Report of First 
Annual Meeting of Directors — Other Coal Companies. Copper : Queen 
Charlotte Island Mine — Inspection of a Vein — Want of British Capital 
to develop this Source of "Wealth effectually. Magnetic Iron Ore- 
Limestone — Sandstone— Blue Marble — Blue Clay. Gold: First 
found in Queen Charlotte Island — Gold Stream — Gold discovered at 
Sooke — General Character of the Region — ' Prospects ' obtained — Mining 
' Claims 'and ' Yields.' Fisheries: Herring — Hoolakan— Salmon — Trout 
— Sturgeon — Halibut — Haddock — Rock — Whales — Walrus — Foreign 
Markets to be supplied ...... page 131 

CHAPTER VI. 

AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Remunerative Character of Agricultural Pursuits in the Colony — Climate — 
Soils — Farming Districts — Yield of Crops — Prices of Produce and Stock — 
Relation of the Free-Port System to the Question of Markets — Expense 
of Farm Labour — Times of Clearing, Sowing, Reaping, &c. — Terms of 
Agricultural Settlement -^. ; 172 

CHAPTER VII. 
BBITISH COLUMBIA. 



Seaboard — Sir Alexander Mackenzie — First Trading Post — Hudson's Bay 
Company's regime — Geological Formation .... 207 

CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Scenery in the Passage from Victoria to Fraser River — Cascade Range — 
New Westminster — Imports — Shipping Returns — Customs Revenue — 



XV111 CONTENTS. 

Rates of Duties Leviable — Government Buildings — Churches — Langley — 
Sumass and Chilukweyuk — Harrison River — Douglas — Diary of a Journey 
thence to Williams' Creek— Cariboo — Table of Distances — Hope — Yale 
— Rapids— Lytton— Clinton — "William's Lake — Routes via Bentinck Arm 
and Bute Inlet — Routes to Shuswap . . . page 215 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Diggings at Hope — Yale — Similkameen — OKanagan — Rock Creek — Tran- 
quille and North Rivers — Kamaloops Lake — Quesnelle — Antler — Cariboo 
— Bed Rock Flume and Artesian Mining Companies — Remarkable In- 
stances of Success— Prices at the Northern Mines — Shuswap and Koo- 
tanie Diggings — Mining Prospects on the north-west of the Praser — 
Mining Laws ....... 240 

CHAPTER X. 
PROCESS OF MINING. 

Essentials for carrying on Mining Operations successfully — The Art of 
' Prospecting ' — The Use of the Rocker — Sluicing — Hydraulic Mining — 

. Water Companies — The 'Flutter- wheel' — Turning a River out of its 
Bed — i Ground Sluicing' — Tunnelling — Quartz Mining — The Rastra — 
Crushing Quartz by Steam Power — ' Quartz, the Mother of Gold ' . 266 

CHAPTER XL 

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Climate — Farming Capabilities — Agricultural Districts — Mr. Davidson's 
Experience of Farming north of the Pavilion — Yield of other Farms — 
Fruit —Stock-raising — Remunerative Character of Dairy Produce — Sheep 
— Hogs — Terms on which Land may be acquired . . . 280 

CHAPTER XII. 

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Bears — Racoons — Marten — Mink — Skunk — Otters —Foxes — The Puma — Its 
Ravages — Adventure with a Puma — Wolves — Rats — Stags — Deer — 
Mountain Sheep — Birds op Prey, &c. — Swans, &c. — Reptiles — Flora 
— Scientific Names of Animals — List of Shells — Additional List of 
Plants . . . . . . . .297 



CONTENTS. XIX 



CHAPTER XIII. 

POLITICAL STATISTICS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND BRITISH 
COLUMBIA. 

Grant of Vancouver Island to the Hudson's Bay Company — Governor 
Blanshard — Germ of the Colonial Legislature — Appointment of Governor 
Douglas — Disputes between Independent Colonists and the Authorities — 
Sources of Revenue — First Bill of Appropriation — Disproportionate 
Paraphernalia of Government— Rates of Taxation — Estimates for 1864 — 
Opposition of the Legislature to the Proposals of the Duke of Newcastle — 
The First Legislative Council of British Columbia — Reception of Governor 
Kennedy — The Question of Union between the *two Colonies — Public 
Expenditure of the British Columbian Government in 1863 — Check 
given to Immigration in 1858 by the restrictive Policy of the Colonial 
Government and the Hudson's Bay Company — Testimony of the Grand 
Jury ........ page 310 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PROPOSED INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY EMIGRANT ROUTE AND TELE- 
GRAPH — THEIR INFLUENCE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE COLONIES. 

Westward, Ho ! — Trade with the East coveted by Western Nations 
from remotest Antiquity — The Tyrians, &c. — Alexander the Great — 
Antiochus — Mahomet — The Arabians — Effect of the Discovery of a 
Passage to India via the Cape of Good Hope — America found in the 
Search for the shortest Route to the East— Why has this Communication, 
so industriously sought, never been practically realised ? — Eastern Trade 
now to flow across to the American Side of the Pacific, and great Cities to 
grow up in its Track— The Americans preparing to receive and distribute 
Eastern Commerce by the Construction of an Interoceanic Railway — 
Would such a Line on the British Side pay ? — It must prove the shortest 
possible Route to Australia and China as well as British Columbia — The 
political Utility of the Scheme — How transcendent its Influence upon 
Victoria — Most eligible Tract of Country for the proposed Railway — 
Singular natural Features of the great Valleys through which the Line 
would pass, favouring its Construction — Central Position of Red River 
Settlement — Road via St. Paul's — Alleged Difficulties in the Way of 
extending the Line from Fort Garry to Canada — Railway Enterprise not 
likely to take immediate Effect — Emigrant Route imperatively demanded 
— The Course it should take from Lake Superior — How are the territorial 
Rights of the Hudson's Bay Company to be adjusted? — Dr. Rae and 
the Telegraph — Climate and Soil of the Country between Canada and 



XX CONTENTS. 

British Columbia — The Adaptability of Ked Eiver and Saskatchewan for 
Colonisation — The Gold Discoveries East of the Rocky Mountains and 
their Attractions — Passes in the Range — Lord Milton's Journey — Dis- 
tances from Lake Superior to Cariboo — Strides of Russia in Opening up 
Water and Telegraphic Communication between the Amoor River, Sitka, 
and St. Petersburg — Designs of Napoleon III. in Relation to Mexico 
and Trade in the Pacific — By whom is the desired Route to be formed ? — 
Note ........ page 334 



CHAPTER XV. 

SOCIETY IN VANCOUVER ISLAND AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

.Varieties of Race represented in Victoria — Tschudi's Classification of Human 
Hybrids — The ultimate Effect of present heterogeneous Mixture of 
Types upon the Character of the Population — Civil Disabilities imposed 
on Negroes and Chinamen in California, to discourage their Residence — 
Missionary Labour among the Chinese — Visit to a Buddhist Temple — 
Address of the Chinese of Victoria to the Governor — Condition of the 
Negroes — Differences between them and the Whites — Sir James Douglas 
—Verdant Simplicity of New Comers — English and American Ladies com- 
pared — Tone of Society in 1859 — Defalcations of Government Officials — 
Escapade of a Quack — ' Widows' and their Adventures — Temptations of 
Young Men — The 'Skedaddler' — Excitement of Colonial Life and its 
Effect on the Brain— Intelligence of the Community— The social Pyramid 
inverted — Life at the Mines — Miners' Ten Commandments . . 378 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE INDIANS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Theories as to their Origin — Their probable Migration from Asia — Names 
and Occupations of Tribes — Their Ideas of Rank — The 'Potlatch' — 
Feasts — Dramatic Exhibitions — Mysteries of ' Kluquolla ' — Election of a 
' Medicine Man ' — Cannibals — Converse with the Man in the Moon — 
Doctors and the Healing Art — Incantation — Witchcraft — Ideas of Beauty 
— Treating for Peace — An Indian Village - — Gambling — Heraldry — 
Credulity — Courtship and Marriage — Sepulture — Burning the Dead — 
Catching Grasshoppers — Rain Making — Tradition of the Creation — The 
Yale and his Doings — The Flood — The Sim-moquis — Theory of Thunder 
and Lightning — Religious Beliefs of the Fishing Tribes — Treachery and 
Bloodthirstiness of the Indians — Massacres of Whites — Exciting En- 
counter of Sir J. Douglas— Catholic Missions to the Natives — The Sign of 
the Cross — Awkward Predicament of Bishop Hills — Papal ' Self-inter- 
preting Bible' — Protestant Mission to the Tchimseans— Good Work of 



CONTENTS. XXI 

Mr. Duncan — The Opposition of Medicine Parties — Establishment of 
Met-la-kat-lah — Treatment of Unreformed ' Tillicums ' — Government 
and Prosperity of the Native Settlement — Ingenuity of the Tribes — 
Civilisation and Evangelisation should go hand in hand — Rapid Diminu- 
tion and threatened Extinction of Primitive Tribes — Paces not likely to 
disappear have the first Claim upon Missionaries — Chances of a bar- 
barous People surviving ..... page 423 

CHAPTER XVII. 

EMIGRATION. 

Inducements offered — Classes encouraged to Emigrate — Capitalists wanted 
— Manufactures that might be introduced — Climate inviting to retired 
Officers and Men of moderate Means — Openings for respectable Females 
— Dancing round a Bonnet — Cautions to Emigrants — Rates of "Wages — 
Prices — Routes from England — Hints as to Choice of Vessel and Outfit — 
— Hindrances to colonial Progress — Necessity for direct Postal Commu- 
nication with England — Claims of young Colonies on the Aid of England 
— Trade for an English Steamer in the North Pacific — Contrast between 
the United States and England in their Care for New Territories — Error 
of the Government in disposing of Irish Emigration — Emigration the 
most important Question of the Day .... 493 



APPENDIX. 



Requirements for the Voyage — Money— Insurance — Time of Sailing — 
Victoria and Esquimalt Harbour Dues Act — Land Proclamations — Rules 
for Working Gold Mines . . . . . . . '519 

Index ......... 559 



LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS. 



MAPS. 

Map op Vancouver Island and British Columbia 
Map showing Overland Route 



Page 39 
„ 335 



WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 
River Operations on the North Pacific 
Prospectors at Work 
Working with the Rocker . 
Hydraulic Mining 
Ground Sluicing 

Helvetia Quartz Mill, Grass Valley 
Catching Grasshoppers 



Frontispiece 
Page 267 
269 
271 

275 
277 
450 



VANCOUVER ISLAND AND 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

CHAPTEE I. 

THE VOYAGE OUT. 

Departure — Azores — Description of Passengers — St. Thomas, W. I. — 
Carthagena — Sharks — Scenes on the Isthmus — Panama — Passage to 
California — Acapulco — The Natives of Mexico — San Francisco — The 
Founding and Growth of the City — Discovery of Gold at General Sutter's 
Mill— Californian Life in 1849— ' Rowdyism'— The ' Vigilance Com- 
mittee' — Judge McAlmond — Present Order and Prosperity of San 
Francisco — Fertile Valleys — A Trip to Sacramento — State Legislature — 
Meeting of the 'Democratic Convention' — Mammoth Trees — American 
Taxation — Metallic Wealth of California — Washoe — Up the Columbia 
River to Portland — Oregon Fruit — Sail to the Isle of San Juan — Parley 
with American Officers — Origin of the Dispute between the British and 
American Governments, as stated from their respective Points of View. 

The route to be presently described is not selected for 
notice because it is believed to be necessarily the best — 
though perhaps more could be said in its favour than for 
any other — but simply because it happened to be the one 
taken by the author, and affords him an opportunity 
of referring to places visited on the voyage to British 
Columbia that cannot fail to interest emigrants who may 
determine on following the same track. 



A THE VOYAGE OUT. 

On the 2nd of August, more than five years ago, I 
embarked in one of the West Indian Koyal Steam Packet 
Company's steamers from Southampton. 

Extracts from a journal written at the time will best 
convey to the reader my impressions received during the 
voyage:— 

'After suffering for a few days the usual penalties 
incident to tmprofessional navigation, the passengers gra- 
dually recovered their accustomed complexion and made 
their appearance on deck. By Sunday all had become 
proof against the elements. 

s In harmony with the sacred character of the day, a 
brighter sun, a clearer sky, and a calmer sea changed the 
aspect of the scene. Service was conducted on board in 
the morning by a clergyman, when all devout hearts 
glowed with gratitude to the Almighty for preservation 
and fair weather. 

6 In the afternoon, at five, we made one of the Azores, 
Terceira. Brief as the space was since we caught the last 
glimpse of the English shores, it was a pleasant relief to 
the eye — for seven days in contact with the blank waste 
of waters — to rest on land once more. By the aid of the 
glass we could descry the terraced vineyards, scattered 
orange-trees, and picturesque houses in the distance. In 
the course of the same evening we sighted Pico, another 
of the western group, which derives its name from a 
mountain, 7,000 feet high, in the island.. This peak, so 
majestic and so lonely, gilded by the rays of the setting 
sun, was an object of uncommon splendour. It was not 
long before this " thing of beauty " disappeared in the 
gathering obscurity of the northern horizon, and the only 
natural scenery by which the uniformity of the passage 
was subsequently varied consisted of occasional " schools " 
of porpoises, shoals of flying-fish, and belts of sea-weed ; 



THE WEST INDIES. 6 

the direction in which these last floated indicating the 
course of the gulf- stream. A classification of our fellow- 
passengers by country would include English, Scotch, 
Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Mexican, &c. 
Their creeds were almost as varied as their nationality. 
As far as I can gather anything about their pursuits, they 
number among them a West Indian chief-justice — not 
always " as sober as a judge " ought to be, an attorney- 
general, a clergyman, a Dissenting minister, an army 
officer, a royal engineer, merchants, medical men, and 
planters, bound for different parts. Only two out of the 
sixty on board are going to British Columbia. 

'St Thomas, W. Z, August 18, 1859. — I shall not soon 
forget our approach to the " Virgin Group " by the Som- 
brero passage. It consists of a cluster of lofty islets and 
rocks, extending about twenty-four leagues east and west, 
and sixteen north and south. The blue summits of those 
islands, their numerous channels, bays, and promontories, 
their luxuriant growth of trees and shrubs, and the bright 
green of the cultivated estates they contain, are admitted 
by those familiar with this part of the world to exhibit 
an aspect of enchanting variety. The groves of palm 
trees, the white rolling surf, the lights and shadows of 
passing clouds, present views of combined novelty and 
magnificence. 

So freshly fair are everywhere the features of the scene, 

That earth appears a resting-place where angels might alight, 

As if sorrow ne'er a visitant in human breast had been, 

And the verdure of the summer months had never suffered blight. 

' That mind, acquainted with the history of the West 
Indies, must be incapable of sentiment, which, in a region 
so rich in historic associations, sails through it without 
being reminded that within sight of the vessel's track 
Columbus passed more than three centuries and a half 



4 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

ago. To him belongs the honour of being discoverer of 
the Virgin Group, then inhabited by Indian cannibals, 
called " Caribes," after whom the neighbouring sea was 
named. 

' The harbour of St. Thomas is a scene of peculiar ani- 
mation twice or thrice a month by the arrival and depar- 
ture of transatlantic and intercolonial steamers. Here 
passengers by the Eoyal Mail Company's packets change 
ships according to their respective destinations. As soon 
as we arrived, our steamer was besieged with crowds of 
boats, plied chiefly by negroes, waiting for hire, and 
pleading hard for their object with the massas that were 
looking down at them from the vessel's side. Then fol- 
lowed the more elegant boats of merchants in quest of 
packages, news, or friends from England. Shortly after, 
a couple of dozen negro boys, practised divers, came 
swimming round us, and repeatedly calling out, "Moshoo, 
one dime." Their hope was to induce the passengers to 
pitch ten cent pieces into the water that the black youths 
might have the satisfaction of scrambling for these coins 
under the surface as they descended to the bottom, and 
that the donors might be entertained. 

' Being detained here four days, I have had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing something of the town. It is built partly 
on a flat and partly on three hills which abut from the 
main range to the shore, with savannahs between. The 
heat is past endurance. White suits and straw hats were 
visible in all directions, and umbrellas were generally 
found necessary to ward off the potent glare of a tropical 
sun. The population of the town does not much exceed 
13,000, and on all the estates in the country inclusive 
does not reach 1,500. The bulk of it is composed of 
negroes, embracing every shade of colour, from the pure 
African to the octoroon. There is also a considerable 



ISLAND OF ST. THOMAS. 5 

white population devoted to trade and commerce. St. 
Thomas is the renowned banking depot of the West 
Indies. It contains no public buildings of any importance 
except places of worship, in which religious service is 
conducted by Lutherans, Catholics, Dutch Eeformers, and 
Episcopalians respectively. Palm and cocoa-nut trees 
gratefully alternate to the view of a visitor from Northern 
Europe. The markets are held in a small square in the 
main street, and in an alley leading thence to the sea- 
shore. Here all manner of wares, especially an olla 
podrida of eatables, are disposed of amidst a heterogeneous 
and unceasing gabble of negro female voices, e. g. man- 
goes, butchers' meat, bananas, shell fish, pine apples, sweet 
bread, cocoa nuts, yams, sugar cane, melons, oranges, 
limes. In the evening the chatter of darkies' voices 
in the streets, and the loud choruses of frogs in the 
gardens, combine to produce a singular effect upon the 
"Britisher." 

' The morals of the community do not seem in the most 
satisfactory condition. A clergyman long resident in the 
island writes thus : " In the majority of cases the marriage- 
tie is shunned or despised, and thus a flood of vice and 
unhappiness is poured upon our community, and official 
accounts inform us that three-fourths of the children born 
here a-re illegitimate." 

4 In 1848., the authorities of the island, now a Danish 
possession, were compelled, by an insurrection of the 
slaves, to grant them immediate emancipation. The 
benefits accruing from this measure to the negroes and 
their masters have fallen far short of what philanthropists 
might have anticipated. Many persons of colour, released 
from the performance of compulsory labour, are now 
willing to work only as much as the necessities of a bare 
subsistence demand. But the Government introduced a 



6 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

" Labour Act," requiring all free labourers to contract with 
employers for a period of not less than a twelvemonth at 
a time. They also deem it expedient to extend the 
application of law to the relations between master and 
servant more rigidly than would be called for in a normal 
state of society. By this means many evils have been 
prevented that have been complained of in the British 
West Indies in connection with the abolition of slavery 
there. 

'Near Carthagena, New Grenada, August 23. — Here 
we have been kept nearly a day, from the difficulty 
of obtaining the services of a regular pilot to take us up 
the channel, which is circuitous, to the basin. The coast 
from Santa Marta, where we landed mails, to this place, is 
rocky, and the hills lying behind are covered with dense 
vegetation. Carthagena was formerly one of the most 
flourishing settlements in the Spanish colonies, and still 
boasts some good buildings and a considerable population. 
It is over 700 miles from St. Thomas. Under the influence 
of the Jesuits, and from the revolutionary spirit of the 
people, its glory has departed. At present the town, 
which is the seat of government for the state, is convulsed 
by revolution. The ex- Vice-President of the Legislative 
Assembly and staff were recently banished, and took 
refuge under the neutral flag of a British man-of-war at 
anchor in the harbour, whence they took passage by our 
steamer to Aspinwall for the purpose of mustering troops 
to defend their cause. Poor Spain ! she seems to have 
neither had social stability nor political vitality sufficient 
to establish peaceful and enterprising colonies, though the 
choicest climes and richest countries on the globe fell to 
her lot. But how mighty must have been that nation 
which gradually conquered and attempted to colonise the 
greater part of North and South America, while holding 



ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 7 

under her sway several West Indian islands and the 
fairest parts of Europe ! To this day her language pre- 
vails in all the republics south of the United States border, 
down to Chili. 

' I saw huge sharks playing lazily at the vessel's stern 
while at anchor in the harbour of Carthagena, the usual 
complement of pilot-fish preceding each of these monsters 
with all the dignity of mace-bearers at a Lord Mayor's 
show. It is said that while sharks have a penchant for 
white men, they do not esteem darkies good eating, and 
consequently they are rarely if ever in their " bill of fare." 
Certain species of monkeys and tropical birds are to be 
met with here in abundance. 

6 Panama, August 30. — I arrived at Aspinwall on Thurs- 
day evening, and took the train the following morning 
across the isthmus, passing through a tract of country 
which used to be generally regarded as the most unhealthy 
on earth. It rained nearly the whole way in torrents, 
and terrific thunder-storms occurred at intervals. I am 
baked and stewed with the heat. This morning the 
sun was 120° in the shade. Panama is about 8 degrees 
from the equator. Fetid swamps exist on either side 
of the railway at this season. Before the ground was 
partially drained by cutting the line, it is estimated that, 
by the action of the torrid rays upon those abodes of 
malarious fever, 10,000 workmen met an untimely grave. 
There was, however, sufficient variety in the route to 
divert the thoughts of passengers from these gloomy 
themes. I suppose there is nowhere to be seen such 
wild luxuriance. Castor-trees, acacias, cassias, palms, &c, 
with innumerable fruits, grow without a touch of cultiva- 
tion. Every now and then one sees groups of native wig- 
wams along the road with inclosures of tropical fruit-trees 
and Indian corn for domestic use. These huts are often 



8 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

inconveniently well ventilated ; for they cannot, while so 
open, afford complete shelter from the tremendous rains that 
fall for several months in the year on the isthmus. They 
usually rest on tall props, and are entered by a ladder 
through a hole near the eaves. Thus the natives protect 
themselves from the wild animals that inhabit the woods 
and jungles. They are known as Spanish negroes, and 
both men and women look clean and tidy. But their 
male children are allowed, for the first few years after 
learning to walk, to go about in a condition of stark 
nudity. At the railway stations the natives drive a strong 
trade in boiled stalks of Indian corn, ground cocoa-nut 
cake, bananas, oranges, hmes, iced water, milk, &c. At 
Aspinwall and Panama passengers are bored by countless 
darkies pushing the sale of racoons, parrots, monkeys, 
Panama hats, besides " hot coffee, if you are cold ( ! ), and 
iced ginger-beer, if you are warm ! " These idle fellows 
have migrated, for the most part, from Jamaica, and, 
rather than return to their legitimate employment as free 
labourers on West Indian plantations, where their services 
are required, prefer to live here as vagrants, on the brink 
of starvation. I have met some who actually confessed 
to me that in many respects slavery, under a kind master, 
was more to be desired than the aimless life they are now 
leading. Having to stop here a week, I have seen a little 
of the neighbourhood and the people/ 

To those who have been accustomed to see the waters 
of the Pacific daily for years, poetic fancies on this sub- 
ject look ridiculous ; but the first view of these waters in 
the bay of Panama is remarkable as reviving all the 
romantic associations which the tales of youth threw 
around that vast ocean — coral islands, golden strands, 
missionary adventures, Spanish galleons, British privateers, 
and Eed Indians. 



TOWN OF PANAMA. ( J 

Journal resumed. — ' The fare to Panama by railway, a 
distance of only 47^ miles, is 5/., and for every pound 
weight of luggage over 501bs. ? the charge is hd. per lb. 
No wonder there is no Panama Eailway Stock in the 
market ; it is too valuable an investment to sell out. 
Panama has quite an ancient appearance ; the streets are 
narrow, and the houses have latticed windows and veran- 
dahs. It is unsafe to be in the streets after dusk, as all 
sorts of refuse is unceremoniously thrown from the 
windows. 

'The Spanish, in early times, built several Eoman Catholic 
churches in the Moorish style, and the spires of the principal 
of them still display a profusion of mother of pearl. The 
better class of ladies dress extravagantly, and, as throughout 
the whole of South America (one might add everywhere 
else), women are the chief supporters of places of worship. 
When a lady is dressed no bonnet is worn, but only some 
light ornamental covering thrown on the back part of the 
head. It is uncommon for her to walk out alone ; she 
would feel not afraid but ashamed if unaccompanied by 
a servant. On Sunday the native girl follows her mis- 
tress to church, carrying the carpet on which she is to 
kneel on the open unseated space of the church floor. 
Last Sunday I could perceive no distinction in that day 
from other days, except that a few worshippers repaired 
to church in the morning. The remainder of the day 
after noon was spent in mule- racing, cock-fighting, or some 
kindred recreation. The priests have, in many cases, no 
scruple about training dogs or other animals to fight, and 
risking heavy stakes upon one side or other in the sport. 
No Protestantism is tolerated here. 

'San Francisco. Sept. 16. — We sailed from Panama Bay 
on the 1st inst., and reached this port on the 14th. I was 
not sorry to leave Panama, notwithstanding its interesting 



10 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

visions of lightning-bugs by night and buzzards by day.* 
I was liable to visits in my bedroom from Brobdignagian 
cockroaches, and the table at meals swarmed with divers 
forms of insect life, exciting the apprehension that it was 
about to take itself off. We were conveyed to the ocean 
steamer by tender, several miles in the bay, in consequence 
of there not being proper wharf accommodation near the 
shore. The scene that now burst upon me was decidedly 
the most novel and animated I had yet witnessed. Six 
hundred passengers who had just arrived from New York 
were taking ship for California, and this number was be- 
low the average at one time, the year round. The 
steamer's burden was over 2,000 tons, and the passengers 
and crew were for the most part Americans. At 1 a.m. 
the gun was fired, and the paddles were soon in motion. 
The islands clustered in the bay are beautiful, especially 
Taboga, which is about four miles from Panama. The 
steamers plying on the South American coast of the Paci- 
fic, combined with the mail and opposition lines to San 
Francisco, create considerable trade and circulation of 
money in the neighbourhood. Large engineering estab- 
lishments erected on one of the islands are kept in full 
blast, by the requirements of the steamers. 

'After a night's rest, I felt resigned to my new situation, 
and shared a community of interest for the time being 
with all on board. The aft quarter of the steamer was 
furnished with four distinct floorings, rising one above the 
other. The lowest was the saloon of the second cabin, 
a miserable hole containing a few berths, and stowed full 

* The first are a species of fly that is visible at night, which emits a spark 
with every motion of its wings, and when a number of them are together 
the effect is very fine. The second are crows of tropical size, that form a 
kind of volunteer sanitary committee for removing all feculent matter that 
may be thrown from the doors of butchers, fishmongers, and provision- 
merchants. 



PASSAGE TO CALIFORNIA. 11 

of luggage, the temperature being hot to suffocation. 
The next was the saloon of B first cabin passengers ; the 
next was the saloon of A first cabin passengers, and the 
topmost the hurricane deck. The second cabin, and 
especially the steerage passengers, had a rough time of it. 
The latter had to stand at meals, which were served up to 
a couple of hundred of them at once in tin dishes, upon 
a deal table lowered by ropes from above their heads. 
The state-rooms in the B saloon of the first cabin con- 
tained three berths, rising parallel the one above the other. 
In these we gravely stowed ourselves away like mummies, 
with this difference, that we managed to preserve vague 
signs of consciousness in this confined space. As the 
voyage advanced and the characteristics of the passengers 
developed, I found them a motley throng : young men 
going to push their fortune, wives with young families to 
join their husbands, parents on a visit to prosperous chil- 
dren, merchants in pursuit of business, women to supply 
the demands of vice in California, bankrupts, gamblers, 
thieves, farmers, miners, doctors, lawyers and ministers. 
This was my first experience of American society. We 
were much sooner at ease with each other than we should 
have been had we been all British subjects. The most 
profane knew how to be civil. Many grew upon 
acquaintance. The most humble American has always 
something to say worth listening to, and the Yankee 
artisan can assume manners that compare favourably with 
those of many who pretend to better station. The 
sharpness of an American's perceptions, whether man or 
woman, is eminently noticeable. There is a larger pro- 
portion of refined and delicate beauty among American 
ladies than is to be found among the English fair sex, but 
it is usually of that waxen hue that soon blooms and soon 
fades. After becoming a mother, the American lady's 



12 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

cheeks collapse. Their fluency (by which I rather mean 
rapidity of utterance) and vivacity are marvellous. 
American boys have but a short childhood, and American 
girls but a short youth. In a certain walk of life the one 
sex are "smart" traders at fifteen, and the other are flirts at 
twelve. There is a dash of generosity about the people 
for which we look in vain to the same extent among 
Englishmen of the same class. But only a wider range 
of observation can enable me to do justice to the nation. 
I decline to accept the political or " rowdy " class that 
occasionally figure in " Punch " as fair specimens, any 
more than I would view the swindlers, swell-mobs- 
men, fops, or workhouse people as conveying an 
adequate notion of the whole-hearted middle classes of 
England. 

'But to return. In favourable weather quadrilles were 
the amusement of the mass in the evenings, and cards 
were in vogue all day long. . . . 

' We caught glimpses of the coasts of Guatemala, Costa 
Eica, and Nicaragua, in Central America, but were out 
of sight of land for a day or two in crossing the Gulf of 
Tehuantepec, as afterwards that of California. On the 
8th we anchored in the highly-picturesque harbour of 
Acapulco, in the state of Guerero, Mexico, and stopped 
several hours to coal. I went ashore, and was most feebly 
reminded, by the present dilapidated aspect of the place, 
of the importance attaching to it centuries ago when 
Spanish argosies used to bring rich freight from Manilla, 
and ship hence the precious metals from Mexico to Spain. 
Much the same scenes of idleness were visible as I saw on 
the isthmus. The poorest natives, frequently a mixture of 
the Spaniard, the Indian, and the negro, do not seem an 
industrious race. I observed the lower class engaged in 
gambling and selling the productions of the country to 



CALIFOKNIA. 13 

persons in transit like ourselves. Many of the cultivated 
Mexicans are enterprising and immensely wealthy.' 

I will take occasion to say here that the plan of Na- 
poleon in the coup d'etat of Mexico is not understood in 
England. 

In another chapter it will be shown that his objects in 
the late conquests of that country are quite as much com- 
mercial as political. But Mexican gentlemen, who were 
fellow-passengers on the homeward voyage, gave me to 
understand that the throne of Maximilian is only sup- 
ported by French bayonets, and that their withdrawal 
would be attended with his banishment. When our 
steamer passed Acapulco, going southward, a few months 
since, we found it blockaded by the French squadron. 

Journal resumed. — ' The priests in Mexico are, as a class, 
very corrupt. I think I have heard that their unworthi- 
ness resulted some time ago in the dissolution of the tie 
between them and Koine. 

' Glad was I to get out of the tropics, and bare my locks 
to the northern breezes. But how shall I attempt to 
speak of California ? I take it to be the wonder of the 
world. The state is 750 miles in average length, and 250 
in breadth. It was discovered by Sir Francis Drake in 
1579, while engaged in one of his buccaneering expedi- 
tions against the commerce of Spain. What a pity that 
the discovery should not have become associated with the 
name of that distinguished navigator under more honour- 
able circumstances. From its white cliffs he named this 
new land Nova Albion, and but for the apathy and 
ignorance of Old Albion (only now beginning to give 
way) respecting the resources of the coast, the " Union 
Jack," instead of the " Stars and Stripes," would this day 
be floating over the entire region from the northern 
boundary of Mexico to the Eussian possessions of America. 



14 



THE VOYAGE OUT. 



Even in Drake's time the metalliferous character of the 
country was believed in, for an old chronicler of the 
admiral's expedition says, " The earth of the country seemed 
to promise rich veins of gold and silver , some of the ore 
being constantly found on digging" 

In view of the important commercial relations rapidly 
springing up between this state and our colonies on the 
coast, the reader will forgive any trespass on his patience 
which a brief glance at California may occasion. The 
mid entrance to the bay of San Francisco — to which city 
I have paid three separate visits — lies in lat. 37° 48' N., 
and long. 122° 30' W. This entrance consists of a strait 
called Chrysopylce, or the Golden Gate. This designa- 
tion was applied in 1848 by Col. Fremont, before the 
modern discovery of gold, and was probably intended to 
be descriptive of the rich products of the soil yet to be 
exported, and the commerce of all nations to be imported 
through that channel. This strait is a mile wide at the 
narrowest point, and reaches an average breadth of from 
ten to twelve miles ; the entire length of the bay from 
north to south is about seventy miles. From midsummer 
to November the hills by which the bay is flanked look 
parched and barren, but from the latter month till May, 
they are clothed with verdure. Massive forts defend the 
approach to the city, and as I passed through a few 
months ago, an iron- clad ship of war was being con- 
structed expressly for local service. The first dwelling 
ever built by a white man on the present site of San Fran- 
cisco dates back to 1835. 'It was simply a large tent, 
supported on four red-wood posts, and covered with a 
ship's foresail.' Mne years afterwards, Yerba Buena, as 
the place was then called, contained but a dozen houses, 
and its permanent population did not exceed fifty persons. 
The Mexican war resulted in the annexation of California 



SAN FHAtf CISCO. 15 

to the United States, and from 1846 — the year in which 
that event took place — the progress of San Francisco was 
sensibly quickened. It is estimated that when the rush 
to the 'diggings' commenced in 1848, the residents had 
increased to 1,000. It is not quite seventeen years since 
then, and already the city is inhabited by 120,000 souls, 
many of whom are millionaires. To secure deep water 
for shipping, one-third of the place stands on piles extend- 
ing a considerable way beyond high-water mark. Lots 
for wharves — surveyed on the water — that in 1847 could 
have been bought for 20/., are now worth 400,000/. each. 
As an example of the strides with which city property 
advances in value still, it may be mentioned that a gentle- 
man, known to a friend of mine, invested 1,600/. in town 
4 lots ' in 1860, when I was on a visit there ; and in June 
last, when stopping a few days, I was informed that the 
week before my arrival the same party had been offered 
16,000/. for the property, which had thus in little more 
than four years augmented in value tenfold. 

The total value of exports from the state for 1847 
averaged $120,000. The entire exports of productions 
for 1863 are classified in ' The Mercantile Gazette and 
Prices Current' as follows : — 

Products of the mine $47,982,388 

„ agriculture . . . . . 2,013,975 

„ the herd 2,182,153 

„ the forest 134,086 

„ the sea 11,285 

,, manufacture' ..... 873,854 

„ the vine 81,456 

$53,279,197 

The discovery of gold operated like the manipulation 
of Aladdin's lamp, in inaugurating that era of stupendous 
prosperity under which the state continues to flourish ; and 



16 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

my apology for referring to this circumstance is, that these 
pages may be read by many who have grown into man- 
hood since it was first brought under the notice of the 
British public. 

General Sutter had erected an adobe (i. e. of untempered 
mortar) house a few miles from what is now the site of 
Sacramento city — situated about a hundred miles from 
San Francisco ; and, speaking from experience, I am of 
opinion that the sight of that homely dwelling — of him 
whose name is prominently associated with the early de- 
velopment of California — must fill the intelligent traveller 
with emotion. 

In the winter of 1847-48, the general made a contract, 
with one James W. Marshall, to erect a timber saw-mill 
on the south fork of the American river. Marshall was 
engaged one day in making alterations in the 'tail race' 
of the mill, and, for this purpose, let on the water in full 
volume. While walking on the bank of the stream next 
morning, he observed glittering specks mixed with the 
sand and gravel that had been washed down by the force 
of the water. One of these, brighter than the rest, drew 
his attention, and on examining he found it to be a scale 
of pure gold. Picking up a few specimens he showed 
them to the general, in a state of great excitement. The 
statements of the man at first appeared to Sutter so ex- 
travagant that he thought him crazy. But on seeing the 
sparkling scales, he too soon became infected with what 
miners call ' the yellow fever.' The discovery could not 
be long kept a secret. The news flew to San Francisco ; 
spread to the Eastern States, and electrified the world. 
Men of all trades and professions, and of every nation, in 
a few months had found their way to El Dorado. One 
nugget was found of thirteen pounds weight. In another 
instance, five loads of auriferous earth, sold for #750, 



'THE HOUNDS' AND THEIR DOINGS. 17 

yielded, after washing, $16,000. Three men obtained 
$8,000 in a single day. The rise in the price of flour 
was at first deemed moderate — 400 per cent, and of beef 
500 per cent ! Soon, eggs rose to one, two, and three 
dollars a piece. Medicines, e.g. laudanum, fetched $1 per 
drop, and $40 was paid for a dose of that quantity ; a pill 
cost $10 without advice, and with it from $30 to $100. 
The mechanic that previously thought $2 per day good 
wages, now rejected $20. At the end of July '49, nearly 
two hundred square-rigged vessels lay in the bay at one 
time ; and no sooner had they dropped anchor than they 
were deserted by their crews ; and, in many cases, goods 
and vessels together went to ruin for want of hands. In 
course of time men arrived, willing, for fabulous wages, 
to follow their accustomed employments ; and wharves, 
stores, and other improvements became visible. Gambling 
saloons were the almost universal resort of successful 
miners, who, in their reckless disregard of gains so easily 
acquired, were often known to stake bags of gold-dust, 
amounting to thousands of dollars, at one time, upon the 
turn of a card. If unlucky, they would leave the gaming- 
board with a light heart, confident of speedily retrieving 
their fortunes. 

On the huge wave of immigration that set in at this 
period there was floated a considerable proportion of the 
convict population from New South Wales, familiarly 
known as ' Sydney ducks,' together with ex-jilibusters, 
and the most notorious pinks of American rowdyism. 
These ruffians organised themselves into a society for the 
professed object of ' mutual defence,' but their real pur- 
pose was to hatch schemes of rapine and plunder. They 
adopted the significant sobriquet of ' The Hounds,' placed 
themselves under a sort of discipline, had head-quarters in 
a certain part of the city, and appointed a 'lieutenant' to 

c 



18 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

conduct their operations. Their numbers were estimated 
at 200. Sunday was their ' field-day,' when they paraded 
the streets, armed with bludgeons and loaded revolvers, 
displaying banners, and led with fife and drum. Their 
favourite sport in daylight was to force their way in over- 
powering strength into taverns and hotels, demanding 
expensive fare, and in return for the hospitality extorted, 
they smashed all the furniture within their reach. At 
night they sallied forth, tore down the tents, and pillaged 
the houses — chiefly of foreigners — often without provo- 
cation, beating their unoffending victims with clubs and 
staves, and wantonly firing upon them amidst the shrieks 
of women and the groans of wounded men. When public 
indignation was roused against their lawlessness, they 
adapted their tactics to the crisis, claimed to be the abused 
guardians of the community against the encroachments of 
Spanish immigrants, and had the effrontery to drop the 
designation of ' hounds,' and assume that of ' regulators.' 

The respectable citizens, finding the constituted autho- 
rities too weak — at so early and chaotic a stage in the 
history of the state — to deal with this formidable emer- 
gency, took the law into their own hands, formed themselves 
into a volunteer corps, and arrested about twenty of the 
rioters. A jury was summoned, judges and counsel ex- 
temporised, and the trial which was held resulted in the 
leader of the gang, with eight accomplices, being sentenced 
to various terms of imprisonment. 

Several of the 'hounds' escaped from confinement, 
owing, with other causes, to the insecurity of the tem- 
porary prison, which was the hull of an old vesse] in the 
harbour. Their success in this respect emboldened their 
companions in crime, and scenes of robbery and murder 
were enacted by them on a yet more frightful scale. In 
the course of a few years the city was burnt to ashes Hyq 



LYNCH LAW. 19 

or six times over.* Other towns in the state shared the 
same fate. No one could have any doubt in regard to the 
authors of this wholesale incendiarism. The leading citi- 
zens, waiting in vain for the local Government to adopt 
efficient measures for repressing these outrages, determined 
upon organising themselves into a permanent ' Vigilance 
Committee.' Such was the name by which this remark- 
able association was known, and occasions soon happened 
for testing its utility. To strike terror into the scoundrels 
that were spreading desolation throughout the state, 
daring burglaries, as well as crimes of higher degree, were 
punished by the ' Committee' with death, after being fairly 
tried. An hour or two after sentence was pronounced, the 
criminal was marched to the place of execution. As soon 
as he reached the spot the rope was adjusted round his 
neck, in front of a warehouse or a ' derrick.' He was 
there hoisted from the street by the simple aid of a 
pulley, the infuriated mob — impatient of all ceremony in 
the operation — ' swinging him off.' 

It was not surprising that this association, whose acts 
had the sanction of the mass of the people, should be 
brought into collision with the ' proper authorities.' But 
so impotent were the latter at that time, that they were 
obliged to witness, without even attempting resistance, the 
prisons broken into by the crowd, and their more dan- 
gerous inmates dragged to the gallows. Whatever view 
be taken of the informal proceedings of these exasperated 
citizens, it is satisfactory to reflect that no innocent blood 
was shed by them, and no culprit was condemned without 
receiving an impartial trial. It is certain that their con- 
duct can only be correctly understood by the peculiar 
circumstances in which they were placed being taken 

* The corporate seal of the city appropriately exhibits a phcenix rising 
from its ashes. 

c 2 



20 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

into account. The effect of the ' Vigilance Committee 
organisation upon the bench and the bar was salutary. 
To sweep away from California the appalling corruption 
of that period was a task that might well remind us of 
Hercules and the Augean stables. But the importance of 
the results amply repays all the toil and anxiety expended ; 
for it may be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that 
San Francisco is now one of the best governed and most 
prosperous cities in the world. 

The ornament of the bench in those primitive days, 
and one of the first magistrates to introduce a pure order 
of judicial administration, was W. B. M' Almond, Esq., a 
name still much venerated. His honour, however, had a 
sovereign contempt for legal technicalities, grandiloquent 
speeches, and learned citations. ' The judge ' opened his 
court in a school-room. His seat was an old ricketty 
chair, and, when sitting officially, his feet were generally 
perched considerably higher than the level of his head 
upon a small mantel-piece over the fire. It is said that 
he was in the habit of paring his corns or scraping his 
nails while the ' learned counsel ' was addressing the 
court. On one occasion his honour outwitted in an 
amusing manner a lawyer who was anxious to display his 
abilities. When the first witness was called, and the 
counsel was prepared to put questions in the usual tedious 
fashion, the judge, without changing the posture which 
has just been described, instructed the witness to tell all 
he knew about the matter in as few words as possible ; 
requesting the lawyers at the same time not to interrupt 
him with questions. This witness had but little to say, 
but gave plain straightforward evidence. The counsel 
was about to call another, when his honour informed him 
that it would be unnecessary to pursue the enquiry 
farther. ' The Court,' said he, ' understands the merits of 



PROGRESS OF SAN FRANCISCO. 21 

the case, and its mind is made up.' ' But,' said a lawyer, 
4 you will at least hear us speak to the points of law.' 
6 That would be a great waste of time, which is very 
precious,' replied the judge. ' I award the plaintiff #150. 
Mr. Clerk, what is the next case?'* 

The number of churches in San Francisco, and their 
tasteful architecture, are very imposing. The leading 
Christian bodies are in every respect well represented. 
The musical part of public religious service is artistically 
conducted, and there is as large an amount of educated 
pulpit talent as could be met with in any other city of 
the same extent. There being no established church in 
the states, all places of worship are called churches, and 
these are for the most part largely attended. The clergy 
(there are no ministers) are generally well remunerated. 
Their salaries range from 600/. to 1,600/. a year, apart 
from marriage and baptismal fees, which vary from 201. 
to 1/., according to the means of the parties. Magnificent 
asylums for the blind, the sick, and the orphan, schools 
public and private, and colleges, meet the visitor in every 
direction. Monster hotels, superior to any in London, 
and nearly equal to the best in New York, offer the most 
perfect accommodation that even fastidiousness could 
desire. In the suburbs are mansions decorated with 
costly embellishments of Grecian architecture. An air 
of activity, comfort, and grandeur pervades the well- 
dressed multitudes that incessantly cross one's path. A 
monetary panic was reported to be imminent when I saw 
San Francisco recently ; but to the eye of a stranger this 
alleged crisis would seem only to exist in the public 
imagination, for no indication of it could be traced in the 
exterior of society, which was surprisingly animated. 

. * Annals of San Francisco, p. 239. 



22 • THE VOYAGE OUT. 

The general prosperity of this mighty emporium is to all 
appearance as little affected by pending adversity as the 
health of a sound physical system would be by a scratch 
on the skin. 

I was admitted, through the introduction of a friend, to 
the mint, where I had an opportunity of seeing the inter- 
esting process of transmuting gold dust into coins of the 
value of #20, #10, #5, #2 50c, #3, and #1. An official 
of the establishment informed me that in 1863 coins to 
the value of #31,100,000 had been struck off. 

The great valleys of California are those formed 
respectively by the courses of the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin, with their tributaries, of the Suisum Eiver with 
the creeks Napa, Sonoma, and Petaluma, and of Eiver 
Guadalupe. In these fertile districts the grape is largely 
cultivated, and every kind of farm produce grows luxuri- 
antly. A gentleman of my acquaintance in Sonoma has 
an estate containing eleven miles of fencing round its 
circumference, and many proprietors of ranches have 
much larger holdings. 

In some of these districts a common yield from wheat 
is from 70 to 80 fold, maize occasionally gives a return 
of 150 fold. Potatoes have been produced of the enor- 
mous weight of seven and eight pounds, and the usual 
yield of that product is from two to three hundred sacks 
an acre. Carrots often grow nearly a yard in length and 
of corresponding girth. Turnips as large as hassocks, 
radishes as large as mangolds, pumpkins from 2001bs. to 
2501bs., and squashes weighing 4001bs., are not unfre- 
quently seen at agricultural exhibitions held in San 
Francisco. 

A trip to Sacramento gave me an opportunity of visiting 
the state legislature in session, and I must confess that the 
spectacle was not calculated to heighten my admiration of 



A POLITICAL MEETING. 23 

the manners of American legislators. The majority in 
the Senate and Assembly seemed to have acquired the 
unfortunate habit of chewing tobacco and spitting the 
juice expressed from it upon the carpeted floor. Outside 
the bar of the Assembly several members of the House 
were smoking under the eye of the Speaker. The lobbies, 
too, were elaborately besmeared with highly-flavoured 
saliva, and slippery from the profusion of orange peel 
distributed in all directions. 

Curiosity prompted me to attend a meeting of the 
Democratic Convention which was held there during my 
visit. It was assembled in a place of worship, and scenes 
occurred during the proceedings setting at defiance all 
one's British notions of propriety. The mercenary spirit 
that actuated the trustees of a place devoted to the worship 
of the Almighty to rent it for an uproarious political 
gathering, and the sentiments of men who could use it 
for such a purpose, are alike open to grave censure. The 
church on that occasion resembled a bear garden. The 
chairman impressed me very forcibly with the suspicion 
that he had not recovered from the effects of a jolly 
dinner, and several of the speakers were evidently in the 
same condition. Most of the audience were standing on 
the seats of the pews with their hats on, blowing clouds 
from their cigars, and expectorating without regard to 
the distinction between benches and floor. Pierce alter- 
cation accompanied with pugilistic exercise was of fre- 
quent occurrence in different parts of the building in the 
course of the evening ; and, knowing the expertness of 
that class of Americans in the use of bowie-knife and 
revolver, I thought it expedient to beat an early retreat. 

Sacramento contains between 15,000 and 20,000 in- 
habitants ; and though it has been repeatedly submerged 
by floods and destroyed by fires, it still holds a firm 



24 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

position as a commercial centre through the brave 
vigour and enterprise of its men of business. Certain 
portions of the town, as in San Francisco, are exclusively 
occupied by Chinamen, whose tails, flying about, present 
an interesting appearance to a stranger in nearly all the 
British and American towns on this coast. Between 
40,000 and 50,000 of these ' Celestials ' are engaged in 
sundry branches of industry in California. 

Perhaps the greatest natural wonder in the state is the 
mammoth-trees (Wellingtonea gigantea) in Calaveras 
County. One of these is 450 feet high and 35 feet in 
diameter ; and it would take five good axemen 25 days to 
hew it down. I was informed by one who had visited 
the spot that the top of a stump has been converted into 
the floor of a dancing- room, and affords easy scope for 
a moderate-sized party to indulge in 'light fantastic' 
gyrations. 

The following table, supplied to me by a gentleman 
residing in Placerviile, will convey an idea of the enor- 
mous amount of taxation levied in an inland town. This 
rate is, I believe, greatly exceeded in San Francisco. 



City license on annual sales under #1000 



2 per cent. 

2 
31 



Federal „ „ 

State and county tax . 

City property tax ....... 2 

State and county property tax 2 

Income tax on nett profits (with the probability of 1 g 

being increased to 10 per cent.) J 

Three separate poll-taxes from $6 to $9 per annum. 

There is a special feature in the topography and 
geology of California that cannot fail to deepen the 
interest of everyone concerned for the progress of British 
Columbia, in the resources of the American state. Every 
indication of metallic or mineral wealth in the latter 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



9n 



renders the future prosperity of mining enterprise in the 
former more certain. The range of the Sierra Nevada — 
the source of metallic riches in California — is but an 
extension of the metalliferous ridge that passes through 
British Columbia ; and the large quantities of gold already 
taken from the mountains of British territory — notwith- 
standing the limited appliances hitherto in use — give 
abundant promise that when more capital and labour 
shall have been attracted to the colony the variety and 
extent of its resources to be developed will prove bound- 
less. 

The following extract from a masterly article, entitled 
'Mining Eeview for 1863,' was published in the San 
Francisco ' Mercantile Gazette and Prices Current,' and 
put in my hands by the editor : 

There is perhaps no other portion of the globe of like extent 
containing such a variety and abundance of mineral products as 
the American possessions west of the Eocky Mountains. Within 
the limits of our own state there is scarcely a metal or mineral 
known to science but what is found in quantity sufficient to 
justify their being worked. . . . Thus we have gold both free 
and in combination with other substances; silver in all its 
varieties, of which there are twenty-six recognised by metal- 
lurgists ; copper, virgin and with its usual associates, iron, mer- 
cury, zinc, lead, tin, arsenic, bismuth, antimony, and platinum, 
with many others of minor importance, — all here in such abun- 
dance as render them marked features in the mineralogy of the 
country, and warrant the belief that they will very soon be 
extracted on a scale ample to meet every home demand, with a 
large surplus for exportation. Besides these metals a great 
variety of useful minerals abound in all parts of the state, chief 
among which are coal, salt, sulphur, nitre, alum, borax, asphaltum, 
chalk, soda, magnesia, and gypsum, with limestone and different 
kinds of marble and other building stone in endless variety. 
With a field so rich and boundless it is easy to see that the 
business of mining must grow rapidly on this coast. 



26 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

The latter remark includes in its application British 
Columbia as appropriately as it does the state to which it 
was intended specially to refer. 

In California, placer or surface mining (the poor man's 
diggings) has been displaced by the introduction of 
mechanical processes which large associated capital alone 
can compass. Chief among these is ' hydraulic ' mining. 
The sphere of this operation extends from Shasta to 
El Dorado. In some of the claims worked on this principle 
many thousands of dollars are taken out at a single clean- 
ing up. In this mode of working immense blasts are used 
— a single one exploding from 200 to 500 kegs of powder. 

The silver mines of Washoe — only as yet in the sixth 
year of their discovery — yield over $20,000,000 a year ; 
the rate of production increasing annually. But argenti- 
ferous leads are not confined to this district. Some 
claiming to be equally rich, and still in their infancy, are 
found in the region east of the Sierra Nevada. Naming 
them in the order of their discovery, we have the Esme- 
ralda mines, the Humboldt, the Peavine, the Silver Moun- 
tains, the Eeese Eiver, the Cortez, and San Antonio ; the 
last-mentioned being 100 miles south of Austin, which is 
the chief town in the Eeese Eiver locality. 

Lying south of Virginia, and extending from Gold Hill 
to Carson Eiver, are districts containing a multitude of 
ledges, many of them with promising out-croppings. But 
when the undeveloped wealth of Idaho and Utah territo- 
ries, with the Arizona side of the Colorado Eiver, is 
considered, the mind is bewildered by the magnificent 
prospects of California, through which the greater part of 
precious metals extracted in those regions will pass. 
Many millions of dollars are already invested in silver 
mining, and often with vast results. In Nevada* alone 

* Admitted into Union as a separate state since this chapter was written. 



KICHES OF NEVADA. 27 

there are now close on 200 quartz mills in operation. 
These carry from 5 to 40 stampers each. It is calculated 
that every stamper will crush a ton of rock in twenty-four 
hours. Supposing only 100 mills to be constantly in 
motion — thus allowing for the proportion obliged to stop 
for cleaning and repairs — these will carry, on an average, 
10 stamps each, making 1,000 in all, capable of crush- 
ing 1,000 tons of ore daily. This ore will yield at the 
rate of $50 per ton, giving a daily product of $50,000 for 
the territory, or a total of $15,000,000 per annum, 
estimating the number of working days at 300. 

To illustrate the rapidity with which communities 
grow up and business thrives under the stimulus given by 
this system of mining, it may be stated that five years ago 
the population of Washoe was less than 2,000, and is now 
between 60,000 and 70,000 ; and the value of property 
has multiplied in a much greater ratio. The Eeese Eiver 
district, which less than two years ago contained 50 per- 
sons, now boasts nearly 10,000. 

Without delaying to instance other branches of the 
mining interest, for the prosecution of which British 
Columbia offers, in its geological formation, inducements 
equally with California, I would reiterate the hope that 
the facts now adduced relative to the metallic resources 
of California may be regarded as affording the highest 
encouragement for the development of British Columbia. 
The American state, including Nevada, has a population 
of not less than 600,000, and the day is not far distant 
when the population of the British colony will also advance 
at a speed exceeding all present conception. 

Leaving San Francisco by a line of steamers plying 
thence to Victoria two or three times a month, the pas- 
senger is usually diverted from his course by being carried 



28 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

up the Columbia Eiver as far as Portland. This is at 
present the largest city in the state of Oregon, its popula- 
tion numbering about 8,000. It is situated on the 
Willamette Eiver, some miles above the junction of that 
stream with the former, and 100 miles from the ocean. 
The Columbia is said to be the finest river in the United 
States, except the Mississippi. There is, however, a sand 
4 bar ' at its mouth, which in foul weather renders the 
navigation — particularly of sailing vessels — somewhat 
dangerous. The first port touched at on the voyage up 
is Astoria, the ancient depot of the American fur-hunting 
company ; and to those acquainted with the fascinating 
work of Washington Irving on the subject, the place is 
invested with romantic interest. 

In 1843, immigrants — encouraged by liberal grants of 
land offered them by the Federal Government — began to 
enter the state over the Eocky Mountains, and since that 
period the population has been steadily increasing. Within 
the last few years rich gold mines have been discovered 
on the Salmon, John Day, and Boise Eivers, and under the 
impulse communicated by these ' diggings,' the population 
has risen to about 90,000. The soil is eminently produc- 
tive, and the climate genial. In the growth of fruit, 
Oregon excels most other parts of the coast. A resident 
in Vancouver Island writes : — ' I have seen Oregon pears, 
to demolish one of which required the united effort of 
five guests ; the apples being large in proportion. These 
monsters are not usually wanting either in flavour or 
solidity.' This testimony I can confirm from personal 
observation. 

An episode occurred at the termination of the voyage 
that may not be uninteresting to the English reader, as it 
relates to a circumstance that, in 1859, threatened to in- 
volve Great Britain in war with the United States. I 



VISIT TO SAN JUAN ISLAND. 29 

refer to the forcible occupation, by American troops, of 
the disputed Island of San Juan, situated in the Gulf of 
Georgia, about eighteen miles from Victoria. I had the 
pleasure, on the trip northward, to form the acquaintance 
of an officer in the United States navy, at that time hold- 
ing a responsible office under his Government on the coast. 
This gentleman, at whose service was placed a Govern- 
ment steamer, informed me that the vessel was awaiting 
his arrival at Port Townsend — an American town at the 
entrance to Puget Sound ; and challenged me to a run to 
San Juan, also promising to take me thence to Victoria. 
This kind offer was the more acceptable, as I should thus 
be able to arrive at Victoria before the passenger steamer, 
which at that time called at Olympia, at the head of the 
Sound, before touching at Vancouver Island. A visit to 
the enemy's camp at that moment I felt to be specially 
exciting, as intelligence of the American invasion had not 
reached England when I left. My luggage was soon put 
on board the steamer at the disposal of my naval friend, 
and in an hour or two we cast anchor in the Bay of San 
Juan. It was about 6 p.m. ; the evening was calm, and 
the scenery along the shore of the island exquisitely beau- 
tiful. H.M.S. ' Satellite' was lying off with guns shotted, 
and pointed in the direction of the American camp, which 
was about a mile and a half from the beach. A boat 
came to us from the British man-of-war for letters, and I 
was introduced to the midshipman in charge as a ' clergy- 
man' from England. This term, in British parlance, having 
a technical meaning— which it has not in America — and 
not being applied by my host in the British sense, the 
young officer was pleased to draw gratuitous conclusions, 
by which I seemed likely to be placed — innocently — in a 
position as false as it was delicate. By some inexplicable 
logic, the report took wing on board H.M. ship that the 



30 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

Bishop of Columbia, who was expected by many to arrive 
that month, had come to San Juan under the American 
flag ! A boat was again put off, on the strength of this 
ridiculous mistake, to the ' Shubrick,' to take his lordship 
under the protection of the ' Union Jack.' In the mean- 
time, I had gone ashore with the American captain to 
visit the enemy's quarters ; and the invitation to the bishop 
being presented during my absence, I was saved the trial 
of having to disavow all claim to identity with his lord- 
ship. The story, on my return to the steamer, amused us 
greatly. 

The American force amounted to 500 men. Earth- 
works had been thrown up and mounted with cannon. 
Judging from appearances, I am not sure that our 
nation has ever been so nearly precipitated into war with 
' Brother Jonathan ' since 1812. 

I had the satisfaction of being invited to the tents of 
many of the officers, and uniformly received from them 
a degree of courtesy of which I still cherish a grateful 
remembrance. They spoke freely of the international 
' difficulty ' that had arisen, and confessed that while con- 
vinced of the justice of their cause, they occupied their 
present position reluctantly. There was none of that 
thirst for war with England manifested by them which 
characterises the less cultivated portion of American 
citizens. Being introduced to the colonel commanding 
the detachment* in the absence of General Harney, I 
was invited to his quarters, where we had a pleasant in- 
terview. The venerable colonel, a man about sixty-five, 
seemed more concerned if possible than his brother 
officers that harmony should be maintained between the 
two countries, and assured me that he was using all his 
influence on the side of peace. He regarded it, he said, 

* Now General Casey. 



WAR IMMINENT. 31 

as the greatest calamity that could befal the cause of 
civilisation all over the world, that two nations, allied by 
community of race, language, laws, and religion, should 
be plunged into hostilities. This was saying a great deal 
for a man whose fortune was war. Little did my excellent 
friend apprehend then the melanchory consequences of 
civil tumult with which his own country was so soon to 
be visited. I must express the surprise and gratification 
I felt at seeing one in the colonel's station having a repu- 
tation for sober and unaffected piety. He told me that he 
was in the habit of repairing to the Britisli ship of war to 
attend divine service every Sunday, and I learned that, by 
a pleasing coincidence, Captain Prevost of the ' Satellite ' 
was a man of the same character. Here were two gen- 
tlemen worshipping as Christians at the same altar, and 
knowing not at what hour they might receive commands 
to open fire on each other ! Indeed, the colonel said that 
if a single shot was fired from that vessel his troops should 
at once respond. ' It is almost certain,' said he, ' that in 
that case your ships would blow our handful of men here 
to atoms, but 300,000 men would instantly pour in from 
the states and take our places.' The colonel asked me to 
share his apartments for the night, a favour, however, 
which I was obliged to decline. On taking leave he 
invited me, with a catholicity of sentiment that did 
honour to his heart, to return as early as convenient and 
conduct divine service for the troops. 

Being favourably circumstanced to ascertain the merits 
of the misunderstanding between the two Powers, I have 
no hesitation in saying that but for the timely arrival of 
Admiral Baynes, war was inevitable. Governor Douglas 
had sustained personal loss from the position assumed by 
the United States Government in regard to the claims of 
the Hudson's Bay Company and their employes, in 1816. 



32 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

From that moment he imbibed inimical prejudice towards 
them that only wanted a suitable occasion for its mani- 
festation.* Now, His Excellency was the Queen's repre- 
sentative. The Americans brought by the flood of 
immigration in '58 were objects of ill-disguised suspicion 
and dislike to him. ■ In '59 they seized San Juan. Here, 
thought he, is an opportunity for retribution, in which I 
shall have the concurrence of the imperial Government. 
He ordered vessels of war to go without delay and drive 
out the aggressors. The senior captain in the squadron, 
attributing the haste of the Governor to inexperience in 
matters of grave administration, manoeuvred in order to 
gain time till the admiral, who was absent, should arrive. 
Fortunately, the wise counsels of the latter prevailed, 
and bloodshed was averted. But let not the reader sup- 
pose that danger is absolutely at an end ; it is simply 
postponed. Up to the present time the island is jointly 
occupied by the soldiers of both nations — the Americans 
in the north part of it, and the English in the south. 
Settlement of the question at issue has been delayed 
solely on account of the existing civil commotion in the 
states. But this dispute, were there no other, remains 
as a spark that may at any time, after the Americans are 
released from internal troubles, be fanned into a destruc- 
tive flame. I eschew the character of an alarmist, but 
the result of considerable intercourse with men of all 
political parties in the Atlantic states lately, was to 
strengthen my persuasion that in a war with England the 
Federal Government would secure the enthusiastic appro- 
bation and support of the masses of the people. A more 
concise statement respecting the cause of the quarrel 
about San Juan, from, the English point of view, could not 
be given, than is contained in the following quotation 

* His conduct to them subsequently became more amiable. 



THE SAN JUAN DISPUTE. • 33 

from an article entitled ' British North America,' which 
appeared in the April (1864) number of the 'Edinburgh 
Be view,' a quarterly, however, that has always displayed 
a spirit of marked incredulity in regard to a belt of set- 
tlements and a line of railway ever being established 
between Canada and British Columbia. I have only to 
remark on this view, that the nature of the route across 
has of recent years been traversed by many persons 
known to me, whom I should much prefer as guides 
in this matter to the reviewer. The geographical 
blunders of the latter plainly show that the informa- 
tion he imparts is not derived from the testimony of his 
senses. 

His words are : — 

General Harney, on being appointed Commander of the 
Forces in the neighbouring United States territory of Oregon, 
took forcible possession of the Island of San Juan, one of the 
largest of the Haro group. Through extreme moderation on 
the part of England hostilities with the United States were 
averted, and the whole matter in dispute was referred to the 
more amicable discussion of the two Governments. In the midst 
of negotiations somewhat protracted, the present civil war broke 
out, and all correspondence on the subject was temporarily sus- 
pended. The United States troops still maintained possession 
of the island, and an equal number of British troops were sent 
to take up a similar position on it. Thus matters remain to 
the present moment, and a few words will be sufficient to explain 
the very considerable issues which they involve. We have 
already mentioned that the large and undefined country which 
passed under the general name of Oregon had for many years 
been used as a neutral territory by the great fur companies of 
both England and the United States, After much protracted 
discussion and somewhat threatening complications, the nego- 
tiations of the two Governments at length resulted in the Oregon 
Treaty of 1846. By this treaty a boundary-line was to start 
from the western extremity of the great international lakes, 

D 



34 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

and, following the 49th parallel of latitude, was to be con- 
tinued to the shore of the Pacific. All on the north of that 
line was henceforth to be the exclusive property of England, 
all on the south was to remain in the possession of the United 
States — that part of the continent known as Russian America 
being, of course, wholly unaffected by the terms of agreement. 
The British portion of the Pacific seaboard became, as we have 
already seen, the colony of British Columbia of the present day. 
The United States portion was erected into the two ' Territories ' 
of Washington and Oregon — that of Washington being next the 
boundary-line. We mention this as the term Oregon now dis- 
appears from our narrative, that territory being excluded from 
all connexion with the present question by the intervening 
territory of Washington. In fact, it will be sufficient to bear 
in mind that the Oregon of former days was an undefined region 
on the coast to the west of the Eocky Mountains ; the Oregon 
of the present day is a United States territory some hundreds 
of miles to the south of the international boundary-line. Having 
brought this international boundary-line to the shore of the 
Pacific, the treaty of 1846 proceeds to state that the line is to 
be further continued 6 to the centre of the Gulf of Georgia, and 
thence southward through the channel which separates the 
continent from Vancouver Island to the Straits of Juan de 
Fuca.' We have put these words in italics as containing the 
whole gist of the matter. So little was known of the physical 
geography of those regions, as late as in 1846, that it was 
assumed that there was an open roadstead leading from the 
mainland to the ocean between Washington territory and 
Vancouver Island. 

We have already seen that there is a whole archipelago of 
islets, and further examination showed that there were three 
channels through which ships of burden could make their way 
up to British Columbia. The Boundary Commissioners of 1858, 
sent out to determine by astronomical observations the line of 
the Oregon Treaty, lost no time in reporting these discoveries 
to their respective Governments. The most southern passage, 
known as the Rosario Channel, lies next to the coast of 
Washington. Its adoption as the continuation of the boundary- 



ENGLISH VIEW OF THE CASE STATED. 35 

line would place the ivhole archipelago of islets in the possession 
of England. The Haro Channel, claimed by the United States, 
lies along the coast of Vancouver Island, and would bring the 
archipelago within United States soil. These two channels 
are about twenty miles apart. That on the Washington side 
was the only one, up to a recent period, in use, and indeed had 
been used by all the English and American navigators ; that on 
the Vancouver side, though marked on some of the Spanish 
charts, was quite unknown to more modern traders until the 
masters of Hudson's Bay Company's vessels availed themselves 
of its shorter route to Victoria. 

Of course, to two such vast landowners as Great Britain and 
the United States, the rocks and pine-clad acres which lie between 
these two channels are intrinsically valueless. It is, however, 
their peculiar position which constitutes their importance. Let 
us consider for a moment how the claim of the United States 
Government would affect these British possessions on the Pacific. 
British Columbia can only be approached through the Straits of 
Juan de Fuca — the entrance to the Gulf of Georgia — lying 
between the territory of Washington and Vancouver Island. . . . 
When we come opposite the islet of San Juan, the passage 
dwindles to five miles. Small steamers, by hugging the coast 
of Vancouver Island, can place five miles between themselves 
and San Juan ; but large ocean-going vessels must pass within 
two miles of that islet, as also of the islets of Henry and Stewart. 
They would thus be exposed to the full range of modern artillery. 
A nearly similar objection might be urged by the United States 
Government against the adoption of the Kosario Channel, if that 
passage were a key to any of the possessions of the Union. But 
the Gulf of Georgia simply leads to British Columbia, and to 
nowhere else. Fortunately, however, we are not restricted to 
these two channels. The Boundary Commissioners of 1858 
ascertained the existence of a third channel, and navigable for 
steam vessels, to which the name of Douglas Channel has been 
given. It lies midway between these two entrance passages, 
leaving the islet of San Juan on its left. Thus, since it is no 
longer possible to carry out the precise instructions of the Oregon 
Treaty— seeing that there are three channels, in place of the 

d 2 



36 THE VOYAGE OUT. 

channel — the adoption of this middle channel, in place of the 
impossible ' middle of the channel' of the treaty, would seem 
to place the least strain upon its interpretation, and may cer- 
tainly be accomplished without the least injury to the rights of 
any nation in existence. By the adoption of this channel as a 
continuation of the international boundary-line, it is not at all 
necessary that it should be used by the ships of either nation. 
Each nation would then possess a safe and commodious channel 
lying beside its own territory. It must be conceded by all parties 
that the Island of San Juan can be held by Great Britain only 
for defensive purposes. It must be conceded by all parties that 
it can be held by the United Spates only for offensive purposes. 
Indeed, it is simply a question whether England shall be allowed 
to visit her own possessions and export her own gold without 
passing under the guns of a foreign power. 

The impression of this writer, it will be perceived, is, 
that ignorance on the part of the agents of both Govern- 
ments in 1846, respecting the existence of any islands 
between the mainland and Vancouver, accounts for the 
terms of the treaty as to the question of channel not being 
more definite. There can be no doubt that his notion is 
correct, as far as the English Commissioners were con- 
cerned. But not so in regard to the Americans. So 
moderate were the claims urged by the representatives of 
the English Government, that the American Commissioners 
were astonished. The fact was that the former party knew 
little about the region which was the subject of negotia- 
tion, and cared less ; and to this combination of ignorance 
and apathy may be traced the misinterpretation of the 
treaty, from which the peace of the two nations is now 
imperilled. The latter party had sufficient acquaintance 
with it to possess very distinct ideas of the course the 
boundary-line should take through the gulf. Nor did 
they make any secret at the time of the construction they 
put on the now disputed clause of the treaty. The marvel 



THE AMERICAN VIEW STATED. 37 

is, that the English Commissioners should have been unob- 
servant of this fact. Before me is a speech delivered by 
Mr. Thomas H. Benton, legal adviser to the President of 
that day, ' on the ratification of the Oregon treaty,' in the 
U. S. Senate, Secret Session, June 18, 1846. It contains 
the following passages : ' That island (Vancouver) is not 
wanted by the United States for any purpose whatever. 
Above all, the south end of it is not wanted to command 
the Straits of Fuca. It so happens that these straits are 
not liable to be commanded, either in fact or in law. 
They are rather too wide for batteries to cross their shot, 
and wide enough — like all other great straits of the 
world — to constitute a part of the high seas, and to be 
incapable of appropriation by any nation. We want 
nothing of that strait but as a boundary, and that the 
treaty gives us. With that boundary comes all that we 
want in that quarter, namely, all the waters of Puget 
Sound, and the fertile Olympic district which borders 
upon them. When the line reaches the channel which sepa- 
rates Vancouver Island from the Continent {which it does 
within eight miles of Fraser River), it proceeds to the middle 
of the channel, and thence turning south through the 
Channel De Haro (wrongly written Arro on the maps) to 
the Straits of Fuca ; and then west, through the middle of 
that strait, to the sea. This is a fair partition of those 
waters, and gives us everything that we want, namely, all 
the waters of Puget Sound, Hood's Canal, Admiralty Inlet, 
Bellingham Bay, Birch Bay, and with them the cluster of 
islands* probably of no value, between De Haro Canal and 
the Continent'' 

The senator's interpretation of the treaty in regard to 
the particular channel through which the boundary-line 

* It will be seen by the map that this cluster includes San Juan. 



8 THE VOYAGE OUT. 



should pass, is expressed with a clearness that cannot be 
mistaken. No opposition was made to his view at the 
time, as far as I am aware. It was when this opportunity 
of objecting was given that the British Government should 
have enforced their claims beyond the possibility of mis- 
construction. 



39 



CHAPTEE II. 



VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GENERAL 

HISTORY. 

The England of the Pacific — Straits of Fuca— The Coast Line — Geological 
Formation — Soake— Esquimalt — Victoria — Islands in the Gulf of Georgia 
— Saanich — Cowichan — Nanaimo — Comox — Northern Extremity of the 
Island — Quatsino Nootka — Barclay Sound — Pioneer Discoveries in the 
Pacific by the Spaniards — Balboa — Cabrillo — Ferrelo — Sir Francis Drake 
and his Adventures — Cavendish — Story of Juan de Fuca and his imagined 
Discovery of a North-East Passage — Expedition under Heceta and Quadra 
— Cook's Reconnoitre of the Coast — -Kendrick — Berkeley — Meares — 
Vancouver's Mission and its Results — Grant of the Island to the Hudson's 
Bay Company — Their Monopoly unfavourable to Colonisation. 

Vancouver Island is situated between the parallels of 48° 
and 51° N. lat., and between 123° and 128° W. long., and 
is 5,068 miles due west from London. 

By a remarkable coincidence, while for the most part 
in the latitude of Great Britain, the colony sustains a 
geographical relation to the Continent of North America 
in the Pacific, similar to that which the parent country 
does to the Continent of Europe in the Atlantic. So that 
Vancouver Island has been not unaptly designated the 
England of the Great Western ocean ; and it is no ex- 
aggeration to assert that it only requires a vigorous appli- 
cation of British capital, enterprise, and labour in the 
development of its resources, to secure for it supremacy 
as a commercial and manufacturing centre in the Western 
Hemisphere, such as England has acquired in the Eastern. 



40 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

The island is 240 miles in length, and from forty to 
seventy in breadth, embracing a superficial area of 14,000 
square miles, — less than one-fourth the size of Great Britain. 

Entering the Straits of Fuca, which are about eleven 
miles wide, on a bright summer day, the spectacle pre- 
sented to the eye is peculiarly inviting. On the south- 
east, in the territory of Washington (United States), the 
Olympian range of mountains lift their rugged summits, 
capped with eternal snows, their dark precipitous sides 
appearing to descend abruptly into the sea. On the left 
is the rocky shore of the island, beyond which stretches a 
mountain-chain in a north-westerly direction, covered with 
thick vegetation. The surface of the country is generally 
of an undulating character, and contains lakes, rivers, 
inlets, forests, and prairies in every variety. 

The masses of metamorphic, trappean, and sandstone 
rocks — fringed with lofty pines — that first meet the gaze 
of the emigrant on his approach to his new home, present 
a rather frowning appearance, as compared with the softer 
aspect of the shores of England. But these sombre heights 
are portals, through which he is conducted to a land of 
promise. The most prominent elevation in the southern 
part of the island is Mount Arrowsmith, which rises to the 
height of 5,000 feet. East and west of the ridge which 
forms the backbone of the country are found pine, oak, 
willow, alder, cedar, and maple, together with various 
species of wild flowers and fruits in profusion. 

The coast line in all directions is broken by numerous 
bays and harbours, many of which are capable of being 
turned to commercial advantage as population and enter- 
prise continue to be introduced. 

While the geological formation of the country indicates 
that its future prosperity will spring chiefly from mineral 
products, the agricultural statistics to be given in subse- 



GEOLOGICAL STKUCTURE OF THE ISLAND. 41 

quent pages, clearly prove that there exists a sufficient 
extent of land adapted for cultivation and pasturage to 
justify the hope of yet larger tracts being discovered as 
the interior becomes better known. 

With the exception of the projecting edges of strata on 
the coast, and a few portions of the interior, the geological 
structure of the island has not been examined. 

Dr. Forbes, E. N., who has given some attention to the 
subject, records the results of his observations as follows : — 

An axis of metamorphic gneissose rock is found in the south- 
western extremity of the island, having resting thereon clay slates 
and silurian deposits, or, at all events, rocks of the palaeozoic 
age. A black bituminous-looking slate is brought from that 
locality, as also from Queen Charlotte's Island, but no observer 
has yet seen it in situ, and no true or definite account of it can 
be obtained. A great deposit of clayslate has existed along the 
whole south and west, but shattered and broken up by intruded 
trappean rocks, it has been almost entirely removed by the 
subsequent glacial action which grooved and furrowed the dense 
crystalline felspathic traps. Masses of lenticular or concretionary 
limestone are interspersed through this formation, and afford 
good lime for economic purposes. Along with the traps, other 
rocks of igneous origin have been erupted, and at the Eace 
Eocks, a remarkably beautiful dark green hornblendic rock is 
found massive, studded with large and perfectly formed crystals 
of quartz. 

The sedimentary rocks are carboniferous sandstone and grit, 
limestones and shales of both the cretaceous and tertiary ages ; 
these in patches fringe the whole coast, from the extreme north 
round by the Straits of Fuca, to Nootka Sound, and enter largely 
into the formation of the numerous outlying islands in the 
Grulf of Georgia. 

As shown by the associated fossils, the coalfield of Nanaimo 
is of cretaceous age. The whole deposit has undergone many 
changes of level — numerous and extensive faults existing. 

The sandstone with lignitic beds at Burrard's Inlet and Bel- 



42 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

lingham Bay on the mainland, are, on the contrary, almost 
horizontal, in general loose and friable in their structure, in 
some cases slightly metamorphosed by the intrusion and con-, 
tact of heated rock, and containing, as fossil testimony of age, 
impressions of the leaves of a maple-like tree. 

Upheaval, subsidence and denudation had all done their work 
in the dense crystalline rocks of the axis of the island, and in 
the cretaceous beds of Nanaimo, long before the tertiary sand- 
stones and lignites were elevated by the slow upheaval of the 
post-glacial period. 

Associated with the coal-field, and scattered over the neigh- 
bouring islands, are numerous nodules of e Septaria,' a calcare- 
ous clay charged with iron, of great value as an hydraulic cement. 

Copper pyrites and peroxide of iron are found in various 
localities, giving promise of mineral. 

The general lithological character of the island is as 
follows : Among the metamorphic and erupted rocks are 
gneiss (gneisso-granitic) killas, or clayslate permeated by 
quartz veins, quartz and hornblende rocks, compact 
bituminous slates, serpentine, highly-crystalline felspathic 
traps (bedded and jointed), semi-crystalline concretionary 
limestone. Amongst the sedimentary are sandstones and 
stratified limestone, crystallised by intruded igneous rocks, 
carboniferous sandstones, fine and coarse grits, conglome- 
rates and fossiliferous limestones, shale, &c., &c, associated 
with the seams of coal.* 

The most remarkable feature in the geology of the south- 
eastern end of the island is the scooping, grooving, and scratch- 
ing of rocks by ice action. The dense felspathic traps already 
spoken of are ploughed into furrows six to eight inches deep, 
and from six to eighteen inches wide. The sharp peaks of the 
erupted intruded rocks have been broken off, and the surface 
smoothed and polished as well as grooved and furrowed by the 
ice acting on a sinking land, giving to the numerous promon- 

* The result of Professor Tennant's analysis. 



SOOKE AND ESQUIMALT. 43 

tories and outlying islands which here stud the coast, the 
appearance of rounded bosses, between which the soil is found 
to be composed of sedimentary alluvial deposit containing the 
debris of tertiary and recent shelly beaches, which have, after a 
period of depression, been again elevated to form dry land, and 
to give the present aspect to the physical geography of Van- 
couver Island. 

As might be looked for in a country so marked by glacial 
phenomena, the whole surface is strewn with erratic boulders. 
Great masses of many tons weight are to be found of various 
igneous and crystalline as well as of sedimentary rocks, suffi- 
ciently hard to bear transportation and attrition. 

Granites and granitoid rocks of various descriptions are to be 
met with, trappean rocks of every kind from whinstone through 
the whole series ; mica, schist with garnets, breccias, and con- 
glomerates. From these granitic boulders, and from the sand- 
stones of the outlying islands, valuable building material is 
obtained ; some of the grey granite equalling in beauty and 
closeness of crystalline texture the best granites of Aberdeen 
or Dartmoor.* 

For hydrographic details the reader is referred to the 
superior maps and sailing directions of Capt. H. Kichards, 
E.K, who was occupied for several years, under instruc- 
tions from the Admiralty, in surveying the coast, and won 
esteem by his urbanity, as well as admiration by his talent. 

In pursuing our course along the south-east coast of 
the island, we pass the agricultural settlements of Sooke 
and Metchosin, the former of which within the past few 
months has, by the discovery of coal and copper, but 
especially of gold, been changed from a scene of rural 
quiet into a hive of busy industry. Soon we came in 
sight of the magnificent harbour of Esquimalt, distant 
eight and a half miles from Eace Eocks. It is two miles 
by three in extent, with an average depth from six to 

* Essay, p. 10. 



44 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

eight fathoms of water, and affording, unquestionably, the 
most perfect shelter to ships of large tonnage that can be 
obtained between this locality and San Francisco — 750 
miles farther south. In this capacious place of anchorage 
a portion of H.M. Pacific squadron already rides, and 
eventually Esquimalt is certain to assume the position of 
chief depot for the Eoyal Navy in that ocean. Here 
steamers from California land freight and passengers, and 
in future years the present village will expand into the 
dimensions of an important town, whose wharves will be 
gay with the shipping of all nations, and lined with 
numerous wholesale warehouses for the accommodation 
of merchandise from the East and the West, to be distri- 
buted to every country on the North American Coast of 
the Pacific. 

Three miles eastward of Esquimalt are the city and 
harbour of Victoria. The entrance to the harbour, which 
is narrow and intricate, may, without the least clanger, 
be approached by vessels drawing fourteen or fifteen feet 
of water under ordinary circumstances. At the top of 
spring tides vessels drawing seventeen feet can enter. 

A dredging machine has been procured, by means of 
which the depth will be increased ; and arrangements are 
about to be made for blasting some rocks at the mouth of 
the harbour, which constitute the principal obstruction 
to its safe navigation. The inlet which forms an extension 
of Victoria harbour is several miles long, and at one point 
is separated from Esquimalt harbour by a neck of land only 
600 yards in width, through which it is not improbable 
that when the growing necessities of commerce demand a 
canal may be cut, so that the two ports would in that 
event be conveniently connected. 

Victoria is more flourishing and populous than any 
other centre in this or the sister colony, and is palpably 



VICTOEIA AND SAANICH. 45 

marked out by the unrivalled advantages of its geographi- 
cal position for the grand British mercantile emporium of 
the Pacific in coming years. Nothing could exceed the 
loveliness of its environs. Whether approached by land 
or by sea from Esquimalt, the gentle slope on which it 
stands exhibits with fine effect the buildings of all forms 
and colours that continue to rise in quick succession. 
Large patches of excellent land exist in the vicinity, and 
in whatever direction the admirer of nature turns, his 
vision is charmed with scenery charmingly diversified. 

The site was fixed upon by Mr. (now Sir. J.) Douglas, in 
1843, for an Indian trading post of the Hudson's Bay 
Company.* 

Advancing northward, the Gulf of Georgia is observed 
to teem with islands from the size of a flower-pot upwards, 
presenting a scene rivalling in beauty the celebrated 'lake 
of a thousand islands,' near the entrance of Lake Ontario. 
Not the least prominent of the group is the Island of San 
Juan, to which reference has already been made. Many 
portions of this archipelago contain soil that would amply 
reward the labour of cultivation. Various minerals, too, 
are found in them that only await the application of 
capital and industry to be profitably worked. 

The Saanich peninsula, about twenty miles long, and 
varying in breadth from three to eight miles, lies in a 
NNW. and SSE. direction. Some of the most fertile 
land in the island is to be found in the Saanich valleys. 
It is not improbable that a watering-place may, when 
required for the convenience of the future merchant- 
princes of Victoria, be established in Summer bay, which 
is situated on the east side of the peninsula, and is one of 
the choicest spots for such a purpose in that neighbourhood. 

* As early as 1846 Sir G. Simpson, on visiting it, wrote, ' Victoria 
promises to become a place of great importance.' 



46 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Farther north is the extensive agricultural district of 
Cowichan, including those subdivisions respectively known 
as Corniaken, Quaniichan, Somenos, and Shawingan. 
The importance of these localities as farming settlements 
will be referred to in the proper place. This region 
enjoys the advantage of possessing a large bay, and a river 
navigable a few miles from its mouth. 

Prom this point the island was crossed to Nitinat on the 
West Coast by Mr. J. D. Pemberton, in 1857. The fol- 
lowing is an extract from the report of that gentleman's 
explorations, addressed to the governor : — 

After passing the Somenos plains and the large lake, several 
tracts of country eligible for settlement will be found, but they 
will require to be cleared. The situations alluded to will have 
all the advantages of a fertile soil, good water, game and fish, 
variety of timber ; the appearance of the surrounding country 
being pretty and cheerful, often grand. The same remarks will 
apply to the land in many places bordering upon the large lake, 

In the valleys, Douglas pines twenty-three feet to twenty- 
eight feet in circumference are not uncommon. ... In rounding 
Mount Grooch, we pass through a forest of Hemlock spruce, 
larger than any I had seen before, often eight or nine feet in 
diameter. 

South Eiver contains a large body of water, has several falls, 
a considerable quantity of flat land on its banks, particularly on 
the right bank ; pine trees (P. Menzies) six feet to nine feet in 
diameter, of corresponding height, standing at regular intervals ; 
the under-growth of ferns, &c, being exceedingly thick. . . . 
Grold-bearing rocks are to be met with in the mountains ; sand- 
stone is frequently found in the beds of the rivers. 

In a despatch from Mr. Brown, commander of the 
exploring expedition that commenced operations last 
June, dated from Great Cowichan Lake, are the following 
remarks descriptive of the country passed through : — 

We have described the geography and capabilities of a con- 



COWICHAN VALLEY. 47 

siderable tract of country, including a very fair agricultural 
region ; have discovered a vein of remarkably rich copper, of 
inexhaustible quantity, and have found gold in all the bars of 
Cowichan river, in quantities from £ of cent to 3 cents to the 
pan, with every indication of still richer diggings existing, to be 
found with superior appliances and more time. 

On Foley's Creek we found any amount of ( prospects ' to pay 
$2 per day, and one which ought, to an experienced miner, to 
pay from $5 to $8 per diem. 

We have discovered very rich ironstone in large quantities. 
Coal we have found many indications of. . . . The spars and 
lumber alone, with their capabilities of being floated to the sea, 
would prove a certain fortune to any man with capital enough 
to buy an axe and a grindstone. The borders of the lake abound 
with martens, and the surrounding country is richly stocked 
with bear, deer, and droves of elk. 

The width of Cowichan valley is estimated at about 
fifteen miles upon the sea coast, contracting rapidly in a 
westerly direction to about six miles. 

The prolific character of the soil in this district is 
ascribed to the disintegration and decomposition of calca- 
reous sandstones, by which it is bounded, and which are 
highly charged with, carbonate of lime. 

Every species of wild plant grows luxuriantly in Cowi- 
chan. In the meadow-lands are found the following : 
White pea, wild bean, wild timothy, wild sun-flower (said 
to be excellent for fattening poultry), wild oats, wild lily, 
wild angelica, wild lettuce, brown-leaved rush, ground 
nut, white clover reed meadow-grass, beat spear-grass, 
sweet grass, cowslip, crowsfoot, winter cress, partridge 
berry, mangold. 

Among wild shrubs are : the cranberry, blueberry, 
bilberry, whortleberry, red and white mulberry, wild 
blackberry, chokeberry, black and red raspberry, wild 
strawberry, white raspberry, prickly purple raspberry, 



48 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

prickly gooseberry, swamp gooseberry, different species of 
currant, bear berries, red elder, mooseberry, snowberry, 
yellow plum. 

Besides the staple woods, oak and pine, we have crab 
apple, hazel, willow, balsam, red or swamp maple, trailing 
arbutus, cedar, &c. 

Fern in the district reaches the extraordinary height of 
from 6 to 8 feet. 

Eesuming our journey northward from Cowichan Bay, 
we pass through the ' Sansum Narrows,' where there is a 
company at work developing a vein of copper. Imme- 
diately opposite, at the distance of a mile and a half, is 
Salt Spring Island, about twenty-four miles long, which 
has two good harbours on the eastern side, and is favoured 
with a considerable proportion of land fit for cultivation. 

The mineral springs, from which the island derives its 
name, are shown by analysis to contain 4,994 grains of 
salt per imperial gallon. 

After passing about twenty miles of coast line from the 
north end of this island, we arrive at Nanaimo, which is 
distant seventy miles from Victoria. The harbour of this 
infant town ranks next to that of Victoria in importance, 
and affords accommodation for a large number of vessels. 
Brine springs exist here also, and the analysis of their 
waters gives a result of 3,446 grains of salt to the imperial 
gallon. 

But it is to the extensive coal formation in the vicinity 
that Nanaimo has to look for its ultimate expansion. The 
coal mines here, even at their present early stage, give 
steady employment to several hundred men. Formerly 
the property of the old Hudson's Bay Company, they were 
recently transferred to an enterprising joint-stock associa- 
tion in England, distinguished by vigour immeasurably 
beyond their predecessors. Other companies have set to 



COMOX — CAPE SCOTT — QUATSINO. 49 

work upon seams contiguous to those of the Nanaimo 
concern, and the period cannot be far removed when a 
large export trade in this article will be carried on between 
American territory and the colony. 

The country surrounding Nanaimo has been divided 
into Mountain, Cedar, and Cranberry districts ; these 
designations referring to the character of the prevailing 
wild produce grown in each. 

The Comox Valley lies northward, and is being rapidly 
populated with settlers. This district and other agricul- 
tural districts are described at length in another chapter. 

Passing Valdez Inlet, and through Johnstone's Straits, 
the north-west extremity of the island is reached, where 
there is a trading-post of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
called Fort Rupert — one of their most insignificant estab- 
lishments of that description. Yet it is said to realise an 
annual profit of not less than 6,000/. 

Rounding Cape Scott, we meet a singular group of 
islands, extending westerly for 40 miles. It comprises 
three large, and a greater number of small ones. The 
westernmost of the group is 1,000 feet high, and peculiarly 
notched at the top. It is believed that valuable cod-banks 
will be discovered at the north-west end of Vancouver 
Island. 

Immediately south of this point is Quatsino, a useful 
inlet, running eastward across the island to Fort Rupert. 
This locality, too, abounds in coal and other minerals. 

Koskeemo Sound — the name by which the inlet is 
usually known — is about 16 miles south of the Cape. It 
is divided into three main arms, one taking a due easterly 
direction, another running to the south-east, and another 
to the west-north-west. These arms are respectively 10, 
16, and 25 miles long, starting from the head of the main 
sound A number of shallow rivers empty into them. 

E 



50 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

At the entrance to the sound on the north side is 
Quatsino Bay, about one and a half mile in extent, from 
which a narrow arm runs back eight miles, widening at 
the extremity into another small bay. 

At the head of the east arm, about 30 miles from the 
coast, a trail runs across to Fort Eupert, a distance of 12 
miles. 

The country from Cape Scott to Koskeemo is very 
rugged and mountainous, the summits of some of the hills 
being capped with perpetual snow. Their sides also are 
entirely covered with heavy timber. The valleys along 
the banks of the rivers are generally densely wooded. 
The only level land in this tract of country is situated 
between the east arm and Fort Eupert, through which 
the trail crosses. From Koskeemo, half-way across, the 
land ' rolls ' gently, the remaining half consisting of cedar 
swamps and beaver meadows. 

The principal timber in this inlet is hemlock, which is 
found in large quantities. The quality of the wood greatly 
improves as we proceed inland among the mountains, 
where there are cedars averaging from 6 to 8 feet in 
diameter. Cypress grows round the lakes. 

The natives manufacture their wooden bowls out of 
small maple, which, with alder, is visible in extensive 
clumps. 

In addition to several promising seams of coal which 
crop out, there have been discovered two or three lodes 
of copper in that neighbourhood. One of these lodes, at 
a place called Ac-cla, has been slightly * prospected,' and 
gives every indication of being rich. Quartz veins also 
are traceable, and superior limestone has been found in 
different parts of the Sound. 

Woody Point lies between Quatsino and Kayoquot, a 
district extending to Nootka Sound. Nootka is a trian- 



BARCLAY SOUND. 51 

gular island that has obviously been detached in the 
course of ages from Vancouver by the gradual confluence 
of two inlets. The small harbour, which was the scene of 
Spanish occupation, can still be identified. Traces of a 
very numerous native population remain along this part 
of the coast. But the JSTootka tribe is now reduced to 450. 

Clayoquot Sound is difficult of access from banks of 
sand and shoals of gravel. The rocky formation, however, 
by which it is bounded evinces the presence of great 
mineral wealth. 

En route southward we come to Barclay Sound, which 
is well situated for an export trade in fish, lumber, and 
minerals, as vessels loading there for foreign ports get out 
to sea without encountering those risks of delay which 
ships are liable to taking in freight on Puget Sound or 
Fraser Eiver. 

At the head of Barclay Sound a cleft in the mountain 
range forms Alberni Canal, 25 miles in length, into which 
a river discharges. At this point the country is level and 
heavily timbered. 

The nucleus of a thriving settlement has been formed 
here, in which two or three hundred hands are employed 
in connection with a large saw-mill company, engaged in 
the export of spars and sawn lumber. 

From personal knowledge of several of the localities 
that have been described, I am disposed to regard the 
language of Captain Vancouver, written more than seventy 
years ago, in reference to them, as sober and just : — 

To describe the beauties of this region will on some future 
occasion be a very grateful task to the pen of the skilful pane- 
gyrist. The serenity of the climate, the innumerable pleasing 
landscapes, and the abundant fertility that unassisted nature 
puts forth, require only to be enriched by the industry of man 
with villages, mansions, cottages, and other buildings, to render 

e2 



52 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

it the most lovely country that can be imagined; while the 
labours of the inhabitants would be amply rewarded in the 
bounties which nature seems ready to bestow on civilisation. 

The discovery of gold on the opposite side of the gulf 
was the grand event that brought this and the sister 
colony under the notice of the world ; conferred upon 
them ' a local habitation and a name,' communicated to 
them a progressive impulse, and started them on that 
career which is destined to conduct them to a condition 
of unexampled national splendour. But a rapid sketch 
of their history previous to the advent of a gold-seeking 
immigration in '58 may not be inappropriate. 

The Spaniards were undoubtedly the pioneers of dis- 
covery on the Pacific coast, and their explorations were 
the result of endeavours to reach the shores of India by 
a western route. Vague accounts, too, of the wealth of 
China and Japan had come to the ears of these enterpris- 
ing adventurers, and inflamed their ambition to monopolise 
the gold, silk, spices, and precious stones reported to be 
produced by those countries. 

The Pacific ocean was discovered by Yasco Nunez de 
Balboa in the year 1513. From that date the work of 
discovery northward was prosecuted at intervals, till in 
1532 an expedition under the command of Grijalva and 
Becerra, sighted the peninsula of Lower California, of 
which Cortez took possession in the name of the King of 
Spain, in 1535. 

In June 1542 two vessels were despatched under Juan 
Cabrillo, from Xalisco in Mexico. He succeeded in 
ascending as far north as lat. 37° 10', when he was 
driven back by stress of weather to the Island of San 
Bernardo, where he died, Ferrelo, his pilot, assumed 
direction of the expedition, and pursuing a northward 
course, is believed by Humboldt and others to have dis- 



deake's explorations. 53 

covered Cape Blanco, in lat. 43°, to which Vancouver 
gave the name of Cape Orford. 

Spain claimed possession of the territory thus explored, 
in virtue of a papal bull conferring on Ferdinand and 
Isabella ' all the new world to the westward of a meri- 
dian line drawn a hundred leagues west of the Azores.' 
The other portion was assigned by Alexander VI. to 
Portugal. 

When England renounced allegiance to the holy see 
she ignored the validity of any title preferred by the 
Spaniards to the countries they had discovered, based on 
' donation by the Bishop of Eome,' and asserted the 
right of British subjects to settle in any country not in 
the actual occupation of another Christian nation, and to 
open trade with any people that showed a disposition to 
become their customers. 

That policy being officially declared by the queen, Sir 
Francis Drake obtained her sanction to an expedition 
projected by him to the Western Ocean. Sailing from 
Plymouth at the close of 1577, with five vessels, the 
largest of which was only 100 tons burden, he brought 
them through the Straits of Magellan into the Pacific in 
safety, when the frail squadron was assailed by a storm, 
and Drake left with but one small schooner and sixty 
men to execute his bold plans against the fleets of Spain 
that still held undisturbed control over the western 
coast of America. His courage unshaken by misfortune, 
the heroic privateer deviated not from his proposed 
course, and the amount of booty he realised from the 
capture of Spanish galleons is as surprising as his adven- 
tures were romantic. Apprehensive that the Spaniards 
might intercept him should he attempt a homeward pas- 
sage through the Straits of Magellan, he conceived the 
idea of searching for a north-east passage from the Pacific 



04 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

to the Atlantic by the channel which was then known as 
the Straits of Anian, but which is now thought to be merely 
Hudson's Strait, forming an entrance to Hudson's Bay 
from the Atlantic. 

The precise parallel of latitude reached by Drake in 
his voyage up the north-west coast has been warmly dis- 
puted, particularly in connection with the question of 
the Oregon boundary. But the narrative written by the 
chaplain of the expedition, distinctly specifies ' the height 
of forty-eight degrees,' as having been attained. We 
have no data on which to base an opinion as to whether 
he discovered New Caledonia, or entered the Straits of 
Fuca ; but there is no doubt that to him belongs the dis- 
tinction of being the first to lay claim to the country 
between 43° and 48°. On the ground of original dis- 
covery, Sir Francis Drake named that part of the coast 
New Albion. - It seems,' says the narrative referred to, 
4 that the Spaniards hitherto had never been in this part 
of the country, neither did they ever discover the land 
by many degrees to the south of this place.' 

When in 1587 Cavendish took and plundered a Spanish 
vessel trading between Manilla and Acapulco, there was 
among the crew a Cephalonian pilot named Apostolos Vale- 
rianos, better known since as Juan de Fuca. This Greek 
was the hero of an exciting narrative published in 1625 by 
Michael Lock, ' touching the strait of sea commonly called 
Fretium Anianum, in the South Sea, through the north- 
west passage of Meta Incognita.' Mr. Lock, who was an 
Englishman, stated that when in Venice, in 1596, he met 
this veteran mariner. Mr. Lock learned from him that 
on his return to Mexico after the capture of the Manilla 
galleon by Cavendish, he was sent by the viceroy with 
three vessels ' to discover the Strait of Anian along the 
coast of the South Sea, and to fortify that strait to resist 



STORY OF JUAN DE FUCA. 55 

the passage and proceeding of the English nation, which 
were feared to pass through that strait into the South 
Sea.' 

This exploratory voyage having proved fruitless, De 
Fuca's alleged narrative goes on to say that — 

Shortly afterwards having been sent again in 1592 by the 
Viceroy of Mexico with a small caravel and pinnace, armed 
with mariners only, he followed the coast of North America 
until they came to the latitude of 47°, and there finding that the 
land trended east and north-east, with a broad inlet of the 
sea between 47° and 48°, he entered thereinto, and sailed 
therein more than twenty days, and found that land trending 
still sometimes north-west and north-east, and north, and also 
east and south-eastwards, and very much broader sea than was 
at the said entrance, and that he passed by divers islands in that 
sailing ; and that at the entrance of this said strait there is on 
the north-west coast thereof a great headland . . . He being 
entered thus far into the said strait, and being come into the 
North Sea already ... he thought that he had well discharged 
his office . . . and returned homeward. 

Such is the story of the first reputed navigation of the 
gulf separating British Columbia from Vancouver Island. 
De Fuca imagined himself as he entered Queen Char- 
lotte's Sound to have passed from the Pacific into the 
Atlantic, and accordingly claimed to be regarded as 
discoverer of that north-west passage the search for 
which has only terminated in our day. 

Some of the statements in this narrative present an 
appearance of verisimilitude. But there are others that 
are at variance with fact, and calculated to awaken sus- 
picion as to whether the reported voyage was ever per- 
formed or the hero of it ever existed. 

The Spanish Government, still impressed with the 
notion that a north-west passage existed, fitted out in 
1774 an expedition, under command of Juan Perez, to 



56 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

examine these western coasts of the American continent. 
Though no official report of this voyage of discovery was 
prepared, satisfactory evidence has been adduced of 
Perez being the first white man to set eyes on Queen 
Charlotte's Island, in lat. 54°. He was not successful, 
however, in accomplishing the main object of his 
mission. 

On the return of this navigator two vessels were 
equipped by the Viceroy of Mexico, the one commanded 
by Bruno Heceta, and the other by Francesco de la 
Bodega y Quadra. From lat. 48° 26' they commenced 
examining the shore southward for the supposed Strait of 
Fuca, placed in the charts of that day between 47° and 
48° ; but some of the crew of one of the ships having 
been massacred by the natives, and others having fallen 
victims to scurvy, she returned toward Mexico. 

The vessel commanded by De la Bodega continued 
her voyage northward, and unexpectedly made land in 
lat. 56°, soon after discovering a portion of King 
George III.'s Archipelago. He also took possession of 
an extensive bay in lat. 50° 30', which, in honour of the 
viceroy, he named Port Bucardi. 

More than twenty years before this latter expedition 
was sent forth, the British Parliament offered a reward of 
20,000/. to whoever should discover a practicable sea 
route between the two great oceans. Capt. Cook, who 
had already acquired a high reputation as a navigator 
and explorer, was commissioned in 1776 to conduct an 
expedition for this purpose. He was instructed to pro- 
ceed to 45° N. lat., and sail thence along the coast to 
lat. 65°, searching in his course for rivers or inlets that 
pointed toward Hudson's or Baffin's Bay. 

On March 7, 1778, Cook sighted the coast near 44°, 
and running northward a little beyond 48° he came 



BERKELEY — MEARES — VANCOUVER. 5 i 

opposite to a small promontory which he named Cape 
Flattery, in allusion to the improved weather he began to 
experience at that point. It has been mentioned that the 
alleged statement of the old Greek pilot placed the strait 
(said to communicate with the Atlantic), of which he 
asserted that he had been the discoverer, between the 
47th and 48th parallels. This part of the coast there- 
fore was examined by Cook with strictest care, and, 
finding no indication of any channel such as was repre- 
sented to be there, he unhesitatingly pronounced the story 
of De Fuca to be fictitious. In again sailing northwards 
he passed the strait bearing that name unnoticed, and 
anchored near iSTootka Sound, at a place which he called 
Friendly Cove, still supposing he was on the shore of the 
continent. 

It is contended by some that Capt. Kendrick, an 
American, was the first white man who sailed through 
the channel separating Vancouver Island from the main- 
land. This exploration is said to have been made in 
1788. Capt. Berkeley, commander of an English mer- 
chant vessel, who was in that region about the same time, 
detected that some kind of passage existed north of Cape 
Flattery ; but he did not explore it. Immediately after, 
Capt. Meares, who was engaged with Capt. Douglas in a 
voyage of discovery under the auspices of a Bengal mer- 
cantile association, on reaching those straits which owe to 
him their present designation, took possession of the 
adjacent country in the name of his sovereign. He was 
the first Englishman to enter that channel. Having sailed 
up some thirty leagues in a boat, Capt. Meares was com- 
pelled to return, from attacks of the natives on the 
northern shore. 

In 1790 Capt. Vancouver, formerly a lieutenant serving 
under Capt. Cook, was despatched to meet a Spanish 



58 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

commission at Nootka Sound. The Spanish Government 
had some years previously seized a section of country 
that was claimed as the rightful property of Great 
Britain, and placed certain restrictions upon British com- 
merce in the Pacific to which we declined to submit. 
The mission intrusted to the English officer was to effect 
a formal adjustment of the dispute, which menaced the 
peace of both powers. 

In addition to the diplomatic business with which he 
was charged, Vancouver was instructed to repeat the 
examination of the coast which had been made by Cook 
from the 35th to the 60th parallel, with the view of 
obtaining further satisfaction on the subject of a maritime 
passage connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic. Pinding 
when he reached Nootka that the Spanish commissioner 
had not arrived, he resolved upon surveying the Straits of 
Fuca and Admiralty Inlet. After tedious and difficult 
navigation he succeeded in guiding his vessels between 
the numerous islands in the Gulph of Georgia and through 
the strait named by him Johnstone's, coming at length 
into the Pacific 100 miles above Nootka. None will 
grudge to the gallant explorer the honour which so righte- 
ously attaches to his name in being associated with a 
colony that bids fair to become, as years advance, one of 
the brightest jewels in the British crown. 

The island remained untraversed by white men till 
1843, when a detachment of the Hudson's Bay Company's 
employes from Fort Vancouver in Oregon established an 
Indian trading-post on the shores of Victoria harbour, and 
another at the north end of the island. 

In March 1847, Sir J. H. Pelly, chairman of the com- 
pany, expressed to Earl Grey, then H. M. Principal 
Secretary of State for the Colonies, their willingness * to 
undertake the government and colonisation of all the 



GRANTED TO HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. 59 

territories belonging to the Crown in North America, and 
receive a grant accordingly. 1 

His lordship did not feel at liberty to entertain so for- 
midable a proposal, and negotiations consequently were 
broken off. The desires of the company at length became 
more reasonable, and a request was made by them to the 
Government more moderate than the preceding one. 

The company was willing to accept that part of the territory 
west of the Rocky Mountains, or even Vancouver Island 
alone ; in fact, to give every assistance in its power to 'promote 
colonisation. ... In every negotiation that may take place on 
this subject (Vancouver Island) I have only to observe that 
the company expect no pecuniary advantage from colonising the 
territory in question. All moneys received for land or minerals 
would be applied to purposes connected with the improvement 
of the country. — Letter from Sir J. H. Felly, March 4, 1848. 

This modest and disinterested communication was ac- 
companied by a private one of a verj different character, 
proposing that — 

The privileges possessed under the grant of Rupert's Land, in 
which the company could establish colonies, governments, courts 
of justice, &c, be extended to the whole of the territories of 
North America, bounded by the 49th degree parallel to the 
south, the Pacific Ocean, and the Russian possessions to the 
west, and the Arctic Ocean. 

Earl Grey immediately determined to confine the grant 
to Vancouver Island, and a deed of grant was accordingly 
drafted, of date July 31, 1848. 

This document, after reciting the provisions of the va- 
rious Acts passed by Parliament, and treaties that had been 
negotiated between the Imperial Government and the 
company, proceeds : — 

And, whereas it would conduce greatly to the maintenance of 
peace, justice, and good order, and the advancement of colonisa- 



60 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

tion, and the promotion and encouragement of trade and com- 
merce in, and also to the protection and welfare of the native 
Indians residing within that portion of our territories in North 
America called Vancouver Island, if such island were colonised 
by settlers from the British dominions ; and, if the property in 
the land of such island were vested, for the purpose of such 
colonisation, in the said governor and Company of Adventurers ; 
. . . but, nevertheless, upon condition that the said governor 
and company should form on the said island a settlement or 
settlements as hereinafter mentioned, for the purpose of colonis- 
ing the said island ; and, also, should defray the entire expense 
of any civil and military establishments which may be required 
for the protection and government of such settlements. 

The deed, then, having duly constituted the company 
absolute lords and proprietors of the soil, -in free and 
common socage, at the yearly rent of seven shillings,' 
continues : — 

Provided always, and we declare that this present grant is 
made to the intent that the said governor and company shall 
establish upon the said island a settlement or settlements of 
resident colonists, emigrants from our United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland, or from other our dominions, and shall dis- 
pose of the land there as may be necessary for the purposes of 
colonisation; and, to the intent that the said company shall, 
with a view to the aforesaid purposes, dispose of all lands hereby 
granted to them at a reasonable price, except so much as may 
be required for public purposes ; and that all moneys which shall 
be received by the said company for the purchase of such land, 
and also from all payments which may be made to them, for or 
in respect of the coal or other minerals to be obtained in the 
said island, or the right of searching for or getting the same, 
shall (after a deduction of such sums, by way of profit, as shall 
not exceed a deduction of 10 per cent, from the gross amount 
received by the said company for the sale of such land, and in 
respect of such coal or other minerals as aforesaid) be applied 
towards the colonisation and improvement of the island. . . . 

And we further declare that this present grant is made upon 



DEED OF GEANT. 61 

the condition that if the said governor and company shall not, 
within the term of five years from the date of these presents, 
have established upon the said island a settlement of resident 
colonists, emigrants from the United Kingdom of Grreat Britain 
and Ireland, or from other our dominions ; and it shall at any 
time after the expiration of such term of five years be certified 
to us, our heirs or successors, by any person who shall be ap- 
pointed by us, our heirs or successors, to enquire into the condi- 
tion of such island, that such settlement has not been established 
according to the condition of this our grant, or that the provi- 
sions hereintofore mentioned respecting the disposal of the land, 
and the price of lands and minerals, have not been respectively 
fulfilled, it shall be lawful for us, our heirs and successors, to 
revoke this present grant, and to enter upon and resume the 
said island, . . . without prejudice, nevertheless, to such dispo- 
sitions as may have been made in the meantime by the said 
governor and company of any land in the said island, for the 
actual purposes of colonisation and settlement. 

And we hereby declare that this present grant is and shall be 
deemed and taken to be made upon this further condition, that 
we, our heirs and successors, shall have, and we accordingly re- 
serve unto ns and them full power, at the expiration of the said 
governor and company's grant or licence, of or for the exclusive 
privilege of trading with the Indians, to repurchase and take of 
and from the said governor and company the said Vancouver 
Island and premises hereby granted, in consideration of payment 
being made by us, our heirs and successors, to the said governor 
and company, of the sum or sums of money theretofore laid out 
and expended by them in and upon the said island and premises, 
and of the value of their establishments, property, and effects 
then being thereon. 

Conjointly with the grant of the island, a deed of settle- 
ment was executed, ' conferring on immigrants certain 
powers of local self-government.' There was also a com- 
mission issued to the governor appointed by the Crown on 
the presentation of the company, with directions to summon 
an assembly elected by the general votes of the inhabit- 



62 VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

ants, to exercise in conjunction with himself and a council 
nominated in the usual manner, the powers of legislation. 

It is not generally believed that the company intended 
to yield literal compliance with the terms of the covenant 
agreed to between them and the Government. They could 
have no interest in promoting the colonisation of the 
island indiscriminately even by British subjects. A branch 
company was formed, composed for the most part of the 
Hudson's Bay Company's shareholders, and managed 
virtually for the advantage of that company. This asso- 
ciation — never legally incorporated — took up large tracts 
of land in the vicinity of Victoria, and hired workpeople 
in Great Britain to cultivate it. The promptitude of the 
company in this matter removed all distrust from the 
minds of general observers in England as to their good 
faith in fulfilling the contract into which they had entered 
with the Government. Eeally, however, their importa- 
tion of labourers and farm bailiffs was designed to keep 
the resources of the colony exclusively in their own hands, 
while practising a mild form of imposition upon the Im- 
perial authorities. No settler was encouraged to remain 
in the island in the first instance, unless introduced under 
the auspices of the company. Instances occurred of per- 
sons from California desiring to take up their abode in the 
country in 1850-51. But the system of petty despotism 
and caprice exercised by the heads of the company, toge- 
ther with the attempted monopoly of the available land 
convenient to the town, filled those intending settlers with 
disgust, and repelled them from the colony. The first 
governor sent by the Crown, feeling his impotency, 
though invested with Her Majesty's commission, to grapple 
with the overwhelming absolutism then prevailing, was 
compelled to throw up the reins of office. 

The Eight Hon. Mr. Labouchere (now Lord Taunton), 



INFLUENCE OF THE COMPANY. 63 

at that time Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for 
the Colonies, obtained the consent of the Government of 
the day to an arrangement which helped to keep the 
colony sealed to the world, and from the effects of which 
it will be long before it recovers. It is not averred that 
the right hon. gentleman intentionally and from interested 
motives connived at the doings of the company in the 
scheme to which he was a party ; but the issue of it was 
the advantage of the company at the cost of the progress 
of the settlement being retarded. I refer to the uniting 
of the two offices of crown agent and factor of the com- 
pany in the same person. Is it surprising that a gentle- 
man whose associations from earliest years had been 
interwoven with the business of the company, and whose 
income was still mainly derived from the profits of the 
company, should not give the duties he owed to his 
sovereign precedence over the services due to his old 
employers ? 

To confirm the illusion in the eyes of the British public 
— whose vague conceptions of the nature of the country 
rendered them peculiarly liable to be misled on the sub- 
ject — the semblance of free representative government 
was adopted, electoral qualification being fixed at 300/. in 
capital, or twenty acres of landed property. But how absurd 
a parody of political institutions this was will be evident 
when it is remembered that the inhabitants were almost 
entirely engaged in the service of the company, and their 
situations dependent upon their voting according to the 
dictation of their masters. The effectual manner in which 
the company maintained exclusive traffic in the island to 
the prejudice of its general colonisation may be inferred 
from the fact that the entire population, five years after 
the grant had been made, did not exceed 450. 



64 



CHAPTEE III. 

THE DISCOVERT OF GOLD IN BRITISH COLUMBIA IN 1858, 
AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE GROWTH OF VICTORIA. 

Rush of Immigration — Sudden rise in the Value of Land— Rival Cities 
attempted by the Americans — Unequalled Superiority of Victoria and 
Esquimalt Harbours — Return of faint-hearted Speculators to California, 
and their Maledictions — Struggles and Triumphs of Miners on the 
Fraser — Hardships on the New Route — Temporary Gloom of Victoria — 
Yield of Gold for the first four Months— State of the City in 1859— 
News from Quesnelle — Things looking up — The Letters of the Times' 
Correspondent and the Immigration of 1862 — Disappointment and Pri- 
vation of the Inexperienced — Description of Victoria as it now is — Beacon 
Hill— Government House — Streets— Public Buildings and Associations — 
Newspaper Press — Religious Bodies — Colleges and Schools — Manu- 
factories — Joint-Stock Companies — The Municipal Council — Banks — 
Price of Town Lots — List of Trades and Professions. 

The existence of the precious metal in Queen Charlotte's 
Island and British Columbia had been known to the 
company for several years before this period. The 
Indians had been accustomed to offer quantities of this 
product at the fur-trading establishments, in exchange for 
articles of food and clothing. 

In 1857 a party of Canadians, impelled by the vague 
rumours afloat on the subject, started from Fort Colville, 
near the American boundary, and ' prospecting ' on the 
banks of the Thompson and Bonaparte rivers, on their 
way to the Fraser, were sufficiently encouraged to prose- 
cute the occupation of digging. Intelligence of their 
success soon spread through Washington territory and 
California. Between March and June, in 1858, ocean 



RUSH FROM CALIFORNIA. 65 

steamers from California, crowded with gold-seekers, 
arrived every two or three days at Victoria. This place, 
previously a quiet hamlet, containing two or three hundred 
inhabitants, whose shipping had been chiefly confined to 
Indian canoes and the annual visit of the company's 
trading ship from England, was suddenly converted into 
a scene of bustle and excitement. In the brief space of 
four months 20,000 souls poured into the harbour. The 
easy-going primitive settlers were naturally confounded 
by this inundation of adventurers. 

Individuals of every trade and profession in San Fran- 
cisco and several parts of Oregon, urged by the insatiable 
auri sacra fames, threw up their employments, in many 
cases sold their property at an immense sacrifice, and 
repaired to the new Dorado. This motley throng in- 
cluded, too, gamblers, ' loafers,' thieves, and ruffians, with 
not a few of a higher moral grade. The rich came to 
speculate, and the poor in the hope of quickly becoming 
rich. Every sort of property in California fell to a degree 
that threatened the ruin of the State. The limited stock 
of provisions in Victoria was speedily exhausted. Flour, 
which on the American side sold at 21. 8s. per barrel, 
fetched in Vancouver Island 61. per barrel. Twice the 
bakers were short of bread, which had to be replaced 
with ship biscuit and soda crackers. Innumerable tents 
covered the ground in and around Victoria far as the 
eye could reach. The sound of hammer and axe was 
heard in every direction. Shops, stores, and ' shanties,' 
to the number of 225, arose in six weeks. 

Speculation in town lots attained a pitch of unparalleled 
extravagance. The land-office was besieged, often before 
four o'clock in the morning, by the multitude eager to buy 
town property. The purchaser, on depositing the price, 
had his name put on a list, and his application was at- 

F 



66 RIVAL CITIES. 

tended to in the order of priority, no one being allowed 
to purchase more than six lots. The demand so increased, 
however, that sales were obliged to be suspended in order 
to allow the surveyor time to measure the appointed 
divisions of land beforehand. The first cost of ' lots ' rose 
from 10/. to 20/. The original extent of a town lot was 
60 feet by 120 feet. Land bought from the company at 
from 10/. to 15/. was resold within a month at sums 
varying from 300/. to 600/. One case is recorded of a 
half-lot, bought for 5/., being sold within a few weeks for 
600/. Parcels of ground centrally situated realised fabu- 
lous prices. Sometimes portions measuring from 20 to 
30 feet in breadth, by 60 feet in length, rented at from 
50/. to 100/. per month. One gentleman states that he 
was asked 20/. per front foot for a lot in a side street — 
that is, for a clay bank, 100 feet by 70 feet, 2,000/. was 
demanded. Sawn timber, for building purposes, could 
not be had under 20/. per 1,000 feet. 

The bulk of the heterogeneous immigration consisting 
of American citizens, it was not wonderful that they should 
attempt to found commercial depots for the mining locality 
in their own territory. Consequently, they congregated 
in large numbers at Port Townsend, near the entrance to 
Paget Sound and at Whatcom in succession. Streets 
were laid out, houses built, and lots sold in those places. 
But inconveniences of various kinds hindered their success. 
Semiahmo, near the mouth of Fraser River, was next tried 
as the site of a port ; but this rival city never had existence 
except on paper. These foreign inventors of cities obsti- 
nately refused to acknowledge the superior natural ad- 
vantages of Victoria compared with the experimental 
ports they had projected. It is not speculators in new 
towns, however, but merchants and shippers that deter- 
mine the points at which trade shall centre ; and it is only 



VICTORIA AND ESQUIMALT HARBOURS. 67 

that harbour which combines the greatest facilities for 
commerce, with the fewest risks to vessels, which is patro- 
nised by them. Victoria, judged by these tests, was found 
most eligible of all the competing places of anchorage in 
the neighbourhood. 

Besides a roadstead having good holding ground, the 
port of Victoria consists of an outer and an inner harbour. 
These united present a frontage of three quarters of a mile 
long, ' with a depth of water, at low tide, beginning with 
8 feet at the south end near James's Bay, and increasing 
rapidly to more than 25 feet at the north end.' * 

Esquimau:, which has been described in the preceding 
chapter, having the larger harbour, it was attempted by 
some who bought land surrounding it in '58 to make that 
place the site of the commercial capital But the remarks 
of Mr. Douglas respecting it in 1842 have been endorsed 
by capitalists since : — 

Esquimalt is one of the best harbours on the coast, being 
perfectly safe and of easy access ; but in other respects it pos- 
sesses no attraction. Its appearance is strikingly unprepossessing, 
the outline of the country exhibiting a confused assemblage of 
rock and wood. . . . The view is closed by a range of low 
mountains, which traverse the island at a distance of about 12 
miles. The shores of the harbour are rugged and precipitous, 
and I do not see one level spot clear of trees of sufficient extent 
to build a large fort upon. . . . Another serious objection to 
the place is the scarcity of fresh water. 

The inference from this view is that Esquimalt is 
admirably suited for a naval station, and for the accom- 
modation of vessels of large tonnage, but does not present 
conditions favourable for the erection of a great city. 
Nor is it desirable that the naval depot and the com- 
mercial centre should be included in the same city. Most 

* Wadding-ton. 
f2 



68 OFF TO FEASER RIVER. 

of the heavy freight may eventually be discharged and 
stored there, but the counting-houses of merchants will 
remain in Victoria, and the business be transacted in the 
latter place. 

To return to the narrative. While the majority — com- 
prising Jews, French cooks, brokers, and hangers-on at 
auctions — stayed in Victoria for the purpose of ingloriously 
improving their fortunes, by watching the rise and fall of 
the real-estate market, several thousands, undismayed by 
dangers and hardships incident to crossing the gulf and 
ascending the river, proceeded to the source of the gold. 
When steamers or sailing-vessels could not be had, canoes 
were equipped by miners to convey them to British 
Columbia ; but this frail means of transit, unequal to the 
risks of the passage, sometimes occasioned loss of life. 

A monthly licence had to be taken out by all bound for 
the mines, and this gave them the right to take whatever 
provisions were required for individual use. At the out- 
set steamers on the river allowed miners 200 lbs. and 
subsequently 100 lbs. free of charge ; but they preferred 
in general to join in the purchase of canoes for sailing up 
the river as well as across the gulf. 

The country drained by the Fraser resembles moun- 
tainous European countries in the same latitude, where 
streams begin to swell in June and do not reach their 
lowest ebb till winter. Those, therefore, who happened 
to enter the mining region in March or April, when the 
water was very low, succeeded in extracting large quan- 
tities of gold from the 'bars' or 'benches' not yet 
covered with water. The mass of immigrants not having 
arrived till a month or two later, found the auriferous 
parts under water. Ignorant of the periodic increase and 
fall of the stream to which I have adverted, their patience 
was soon exhausted waiting for the uncovering of the 



KE ACTION IJS T VICTORIA. 69 

banks. Not a few, crestfallen and disappointed, returned 
to Victoria. 

A gloomy impression began to prevail among the less 
venturesome spirits that tarried in this scene of morbid 
speculation. Gold not coming down fast enough to satisfy 
their wishes, thousands of them lost heart and went back 
to San Francisco, heaping execrations upon the country 
and everything else that was English ; and placing the 
reported existence of gold in the same category with the 
South Sea bubble. The rumour took wing that the river 
never did fall ; and as placer-mining could only be carried 
on on rivers, ' the state of the river became the barometer 
of public hopes, and the pivot on which everybody's 
expectations turned.' This preposterous idea spread, was 
readily caught up by the press of California, and proved 
the first check to immigration. Another impediment was 
the commercial restrictions imposed by the Hudson's Bay 
Company in virtue of the term of their charter for exclu- 
sive trade in the interior not having yet expired. 

A few hundred indomitable men, calmly reviewing the 
unfavourable season in which they had commenced mining 
operations, and the difficulties unavoidable to locomotion 
in a country previously untrodden for the most part by 
white men, resolved to push their way forward, animated 
by the assurance that they must sooner or later meet the 
object of their search and labour. Some settled on the 
bars between Hope and Yale, at the head of navigation ; 
others advanced still higher, running hair-breadth escapes, 
balancing themselves in passing the brink of some danger- 
ous ledge or gaping precipice encumbered with provisions 
packed on their backs. 

A new route was proposed via Douglas, at the head of 
Harrison Lake and Lilloet, that should avoid the clangers 
and obstructions of the river trial. But this did not at 



70 HAEDSHIPS ON THE NEW ROUTE. 

first mend matters ; for the intended road lay through a 
rugged and densely-wooded country, and much time and 
money required to be consumed before it could be ren- 
dered practicable. Before the line for the Lilloet route 
was generally known, parties of intrepid miners, anxious 
to be the first to reap its benefits, tried to force their way 
through all the difficulties opposed to them. The misery 
and fatigue endured by them was indescribable. They 
crept through underwood and thicket for many miles, 
sometimes on hands and knees, with a bag of flour on the 
back of each ; alternately under and over fallen trees, 
scrambling up precipices, or sliding down over masses of 
sharp projecting rock, or wading up to the waist through 
bogs and swamps. Every day added to their exhaustion ; 
and, worn out with privation and sufferings, one knot of 
adventurers after another became smaller and smaller, 
some lagging behind to rest, or turning back in despair. 
The only thought seemed to be to reach the river ere 
their provisions should give out. One large party was 
reduced to three, and when they came to an Indian camp 
where salmon was to be had, one of these hardy fellows 
made up his mind to return. 

So casting a farewell look from the mountain side on the 
valley beneath him, the valley which had been the goal of all 
his hopes, and to reach which he had endured so much hardship, 
he wished his companions good-bye. . . . Nor did the two others 
■fare much better. My friend, during a fortnight's stay among 
the Indians, lived on salmon when he could get it, and often on 
wild fruit. Once he got a meal of horseflesh, but never tasted 
a spoonful of flour or even salt. On his journey back he had to 
live for three days solely on blackberries, and returned with his 
clothing tattered and torn like a scarecrow.* 

Nor was this case an uncommon one. Gold there was 

* Waddington's Fraser River Vindicated, p. 23. 



THE TIDE KECEDING. 71 

in abundance, but want of access prevented the country 
from being 'prospected;' and reckless men, without 
stopping to take this into account, condemned the mines 
and everything connected with them without distinction. 

If the commerce of the interior had "been thrown open, and 
private enterprise allowed to compete with the natural difficul- 
ties of the country, these would have soon been overcome. 
Forests would have been opened, provisory bridges thrown over 
precipices, hollows levelled, and the rush of population following 
behind, the country would have been rapidly settled, and the 
trader have brought his provisions to the miner's door. 

Affairs in Victoria, meanwhile, grew yet more dismal. 
The 'rowdy' element that had assembled in the city, find- 
ing no legitimate occupation to employ their idle hands, 
were under strong temptation to create such disturbances 
as they had been accustomed to get up in California. 
Losing, for the moment, that wholesome dread of British 
rule which that class usually feel, a party of them rescued 
a prisoner from the hands of the police, and actually pro- 
posed to hoist the American flag over the old Hudson's 
Bay Company's fort. But the news that a gunboat was 
on her way from Esquimalt to quell the riot, soon calmed 
alarm and restored peace. 

Large sums of money, sent up from San Francisco for 
investment, were shipped back again ; and whole cargoes 
of goods, ordered during the heat of the excitement, were 
thrown upon the hands of merchants. Jobbers had nothing 
to do but smoke their cigars or play at whist. Some ac- 
cused the company ; others complained of the Govern- 
ment ; others sneered at ' English fogy ism ;' and others 
deplored the want of ' American enterprise.' ' Croaking ' 
was the order of the day. 

The Governor, seeing the tide of immigration receding, 
managed to control his prejudice against the 'foreigners' 
from a neighbouring state, so far as to moderate the severe 



72 BEIGHT PKOSPECTS. 

restrictions he had put upon goods imported to British 
Columbia, and adopted more active measures in opening 
trails to the mines. But his tardy decision came too late 
to be attended with immediate benefit. 

At length, however, the river did fall, and the arrival 
of gold-dust foreshadowed a brighter future. But sailing- 
vessels left daily, crowded with repentant and dejected 
adventurers, whose opposition to the country had become 
so inveterate, that they could not now be made to believe 
in the existence of gold from Fraser Eiver, though proved 
by the clearest ocular demonstration. The old inhabitants 
imagined that Victoria was about to return to its former 
state of insignificance. 

Yet it is asserted, on reliable authority, that in propor- 
tion to the number of hands engaged upon the mines — 
notwithstanding the unequalled drawbacks in the way of 
reaching them — the yield during the first six months was 
much larger than it had been in the same period and at 
the same stage of development in California or Australia. 

Mr. Waddington, a gentleman who is proverbially cor- 
rect in all statistical matters, estimates the production of 
gold in California during the first six months of mining, 
in 1849, at $240,000. All the gold brought to Melbourne 
in 1851 amounted to 104,154 ounces, or at $16 per ounce, 
$1,666,464, while New South Wales gave for the first six 
months 45,190 ounces, or $723,000. 

The following is the amount sent by steamer or sailing- 
vessel from Victoria, between the end of June and the end 
of October, 1858 :— 

June #6,000 



July . 
August 
September 
October 



45,000 

45,000 

164,000 

283,000 

#543,000 



YIELD t)F GOLD. (6 

But in this sum is not included the quantity of dust ac- 
cumulated and kept in the country by miners, nor that 
bought by the company or carried away in private hands. 
Mr. Waddington believes that this latter item will bring 
the gross total up to #705,000 or 141,000/., realised be- 
tween June and September, against #240,000 in California, 
and #725,000 in New South Wales, extracted in six months. 
Yet this surprising wealth was taken almost entirely from 
the bed of a few rivers. ' Bank' diggings were hardly 
known as yet. A very limited portion of the Lower 
Fraser, the Thompson, and the Bonaparte, was the ex- 
clusive sphere of operations. The 'bars' of the Upper 
Fraser, and the creeks issuing from the northern spurs of 
the Eocky Mountains, had yet to be explored. 

For a few intelligent and persevering men these facts 
and figures had weight. But amateur miners, romantic 
speculators, and 'whiskey bummers,' could not, by the 
most attractive representations, be detained in the coun- 
try, and it was wisely ordered that it should be so. For 
such scouts of civilisation — -had the 'castles in the air' 
which they built not been demolished — would have re- 
enacted in our colonies such scenes of riot and bloodshed 
as disgraced California nine years previously. It was well 
that we should get rid of all who wanted impossibilities 
and indulged exaggerated hopes. The few hardy and 
enterprising settlers who remained ceased to pursue Will- 
o'-the-wisps, and composed themselves to the sober realities 
of life. 

In September '59, when I first set foot in Victoria, the 
process of depopulation was still going on, though it soon 
after reached its lowest point. A healthy relation between 
supply and demand in every department was being effected. 
The tens of thousands that had pressed into the city in 
'58 were diminished to not more than 1,500, embracing 



74 FRESH DISCOVERIES. 

'the waifs and strays' of every nationality, not excepting a 
good many whose antecedents were not above suspicion. 

Apart from the Government buildings, two hotels, and 
one shop, all the dwellings and houses of business were at 
that time built of wood. Many stores were closed and shan- 
ties empty. There was little business doing, and no great 
prospect ahead. This stagnant condition continued with 
but little abatement till the close of 1860, when intimations 
came of eminently productive mines being discovered at 
the forks of Quesnelle, which at that time seemed as 
difficult of access as the Arctic regions. A few scores of 
miners, arguing from the fineness of the gold dust found 
near Hope Yale and the forks of the Thompson, that it 
was washed down from some quartz formation in the 
north, penetrated to the spot just referred to. Language 
fails to describe the trials these men endured from the 
utter absence of paths of any kind, the severity of winter- 
climate, and often the scant supply of provisions. The 
theory by which the daring pioneers were guided was 
remarkably verified, and the toils of many of them were 
abundantly rewarded. 

Their return to Victoria with bags of dust and nuggets 
rallied the fainting hopes of the community, and they 
were regarded as walking advertisements that the country 
was safe. Business immediately improved, the value of 
town property advanced ; some who had been hesitating 
about erecting permanent buildings caught inspiration, 
and at once plunged into brick-and-mortar investments. 

The few scores that had worked on Antler Creek in 
'60 increased, in the spring of '61, to 1,500. Some 
addition to our population in the latter year came from 
California, and every man who could possibly make it 
convenient to leave Victoria for the season went to the 
new diggings. Of those who went, one- third made hide- 



LETTERS IN THE ' TIMES.' 75 

pendent fortunes, one-third netted several hundreds of 
pounds, and one-third, from a variety of causes, were 
unsuccessful. Some details respecting the early yield of 
gold will be given in the chapter on the mines of British 
Columbia. 

The letters of the ' Times' ' correspondent, published in 
1862, excited great attention, and in that year several 
thousands were induced to visit the country from England, 
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These communi- 
cations may probably have been open to the charge of 
containing couleur-de-rose descriptions. The writer may 
have presumed too much on the judgment of his readers 
to conceive for themselves the dark side of the picture — 
the privations to be undergone and the risks to be borne 
in journeying to remote gold-bearing streams. 

Without having any interest in vindicating the ' Times' ' 
correspondent, I do not hesitate to say that this gentle- 
man's statements were substantially true as far as they 
went, though it is admitted that his representations would 
have been more complete had he dwelt more on the 
arduous nature of the route at the time he wrote, the 
probabilities of failure in the case of those without capital 
and unaccustomed to laborious employment. But nothing 
that can be said of this inadvertence on the part of the 
' Times' ' correspondent can palliate the oversight of any 
so inconsiderate as to undertake a voyage to British 
Columbia without counting the cost. Even had the 
immigration of '62 been altogether of the class most 
adapted to the comparatively undeveloped state of the 
country at that time — which it was not — for all to expect 
instant success, not to speak of exemption from losses, 
would have been to try the colony by tests that would be 
deemed utterly absurd if applied to the richest country 
under heaven. Similar objections have been brought a 



76 IMMIGRATION OF 1862. 

thousand -times against California and Australia by men 
whose temper has been ruffled by disappointment. Only 
a short time ago many of my fellow-passengers from 
San Francisco to New York were breathing vengeance 
against the former of these states as unfit for habitation, 
and letters ever and anon appear from persons in our 
colonies in the southern hemisphere expressing dissatis- 
faction with their new location there. But these countries 
advance, nevertheless, with giant strides ; and so, in the 
face of all senseless clamour, will our possessions on the 
north-west coast of America. 

The chief misfortune connected with the influx of 
population at this period was that it comprised an exces- 
sive proportion of clerks, retired army officers, prodigal 
sons, and a host of other romantic nondescripts, who 
indulged visions of sudden wealth obtainable with scarcely 
more exertion than is usually put forth in a pleasure 
excursion to the continent of Europe. These trim young 
fellows exhibited a profusion of leather coats and leggings, 
assuming a sort of defiant air, the interpretation of which 
was, ' We are the men to show you " Colonials " how to 
brave danger and fatigue ! ' But their pretensions gene- 
rally evaporated with the breath by which they were 
expressed, and many that set out with this dare-all aspect 
were soon thankful to be permitted to break stones, chop 
wood, serve as stable-boys, or root out tree-stumps. The 
vague imaginations with which they left home were soon 
dissipated, when, on the termination of the voyage, they 
discovered that 500 miles lay between them and Cariboo 
— a distance which must be passed over muddy roads 
and frowning precipices, with whatever necessaries might 
be required for the trip strapped to their shoulders. 
Hundreds went half way to the mines, and returned in 
despondency ; hundreds more remained in Victoria, and 



VICTORIA. 77 

were only saved from starvation by the liberality of more 
prosperous citizens. A much larger number came than 
the country, with a deficient supply of roads, was prepared 
to receive. Still a considerable number made large 
amounts of money, and the majority of those who have 
possessed sufficient fortitude to bear inconveniences and 
battle against discouragements are in a fair way for 
speedily acquiring a competency. 

Description of Victoria. 

Starting from the corner of Fort and Government 
Streets, with a radius of three quarters of a mile, the town 
site covers two-thirds of a circle, stretching round the 
harbour. The streets in general are sixty feet wide, and 
cross each other at right angles, and from the sloping and 
undulating character of the ground there is no point 
from which the city does not look interesting.* 

A magnificent natural park, called Beaconhill, of large 
extent, with a high knoll in the centre, and fringed with 
pines and oaks, has been reserved for public use. On 
one side it reaches to the sea-beach, and from the eleva- 
tion referred to a lovely view is gained of the gulf in the 
direction of the Eace Eocks, and of the mountain range in 
Washington territory in the other direction. This sub- 
urban enclosure is used as a race-course and cricket- 
ground, and is the favourite resort of the inhabitants 
when taking an airing on foot or on horseback. The 
variety and beauty of the walks and drives around 
Victoria are, in the opinion of visitors from every part of 
the world, matchless. The Government offices, Supreme 



* It is difficult to form an exact estimate of the population of the city in 
consequence of its migratory character. I should think it would average, 
last winter, about 5,500. 



78 IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CITY. 

Court, and the hall occupied by the Parliament, form one 
pile of buildings, and are situated some distance from the 
chief thoroughfare of the town, on James's Bay ; although 
composed of only frame and brickwork, the coup oVoeil 
of this structure, with the lofty pines in the background, 
is highly picturesque. The large building in the centre 
contains the rooms of the Governor, Colonial Secretary, 
&c. The Treasury is on the right, the Land Office on the 
left, and standing immediately behind are the offices of the 
Attorney-General, Kegistrar-General, Eegistrar of the 
Supreme Court, and the Chief Justice, the Court House, 
and the hall of the Legislative Assembly. 

Streets in which two or three years since the pedestrian 
sank knee-deep in mire, are now macadamised, and pro- 
vided with solid wooden footpaths. Large and substantial 
stone and brick warehouses, well stocked with goods, line 
the upper part of the harbour on the town side. Between 
1861 and 1862 alone fifty-six brick buildings were 
erected, and since that period very rapid progress has 
been made in edifices of that character. Several spacious 
hotels, elegantly furnished, and supplied with every com- 
fort and luxury which the most fastidious could wish, 
have been built — one it is said at a cost of 12,000/., and 
another at a figure not much lower. Long massive 
blocks of building in Wharf, Store, and Government 
Streets, furnish every indication of prosperity and perma- 
nence. There are many residences in the vicinity that 
would grace a town fifty years old. Some of these are 
of brick and stone, and others of wood and cement, with 
a stone or brick foundation. The expense incurred in 
their erection varies from 400/. to 2,400/. The edifice in 
which the extensive business of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany is carried on is the largest in the city. The greater 
proportion of buildings are still made of wood and plaster. 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 79 

But as the trade of the town advances, solid buildings in 
the principal streets will become uniform. 

Among public structures is a hospital, sustained par- 
tially by Government, but mainly by public subscription. 
Hook and ladder companies have been formed for 
extinguishing fires, to which new towns on the coast are 
peculiarly liable ; these have their respective halls and 
engine-houses. Into these volunteer bodies the male 
population of nearly every class throw themselves with 
great enthusiasm. When in active service or in proces- 
sion, the members appear in Garibaldi attire, with helmets. 

A theatre, capable of accommodating 400, is sometimes 
visited by able and respectable dramatic troupes, though 
it is to be regretted that taste for the noblest form of the 
drama is not general in these parts. Drinking saloons, 
which abound vastly out of proportion to the wants of 
the population, often supply entertainments of a low and 
vicious order, and they are much patronised. 

The Police Barracks are situated inconveniently near 
the main street. They contain the Court rooms and 
offices of the Police Commissioner, chamber of the Govern- 
ment Assessor and Sheriff, rooms belonging to the police 
force, the cells of prisoners, and a prison yard. It is not 
to the honour of the city, however, that lunatics should 
be placed under the same roof with felons. It is to be 
hoped that this reproach will soon be wiped out, and a 
suitable asylum provided for these unhappy creatures. 
The ladies of the town are exceedingly attentive to the 
wants of the sick and destitute of their own sex. 

A reading-room, well supplied with books and news- 
papers, is kept by an enterprising citizen, for admission to 
which there is a small charge. One of the greatest 
advantages to reading settlers is the ample and varied 
assortment of books and magazines sold by Messrs. 



80 NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. 

Hibben and Carswell, whose shop is the chief source of 
the supply of literary pabulum for both colonies ; their 
stock contains the best as well as the most recent British and 
American literature. For 21. 16s. per annum they deliver 
to subscribers American reprints of ' The Edinburgh Ee- 
view,' ' The Quarterly,' ' The Westminster,' ; The North 
British,' and ' Blackwood's Magazine,' little more than two 
months after these works are published in England. 

Associations have been formed for purposes of be- 
nevolence, intellectual profit, and amusement, on the 
ground of community of taste, nation, or race. The 
Scotch, who are numerous in the city, are represented by 
a St. Andrew Society, established for affording relief to 
their needy countrymen, and the annual dinner connected 
with that institution is the most popular celebration of 
the sort in Victoria. 

The French perpetuate the remembrance of their 
nation and foster national predilections through the 
medium of a 'French Benevolent Society.' The Germans 
are united in a Singverein, and are always ready to 
render their valuable musical services for any charitable 
object. The coloured people, numbering upwards of 300, 
have a volunteer rifle corps, and have spared no expense 
or pains to become efficient in the use of the rifle ; they 
have a hall expressly devoted to the practice of instru- 
mental music and drill. The appearance they make on 
special occasions is highly creditable. The whites — espe- 
cially the more cultivated portion of young men in the 
city — also boast a rifle corps, which, under the command 
of its present talented and energetic captain, is quite a 
public ornament. By drawing together young men with- 
out family ties, and affording them healthful and useful 
exercise, such organisations occupy hours that might 
otherwise be spent mischievously. 



RELIGIOUS BODIES. 81 

The Freemasons have a lodge, and a secret order of 
total abstainers, called ' Good Templars,' originated in the 
United States, are putting forth zealous efforts to combat 
the abuses of drinking. 

The newspaper press, for so limited a population, is 
singularly vigorous and well supported. There are four 
daily papers published in Victoria — the two principal ones 
being c The British Colonist,' and ' The Victoria Chronicle.' 
The others are ' The Evening Express,' and the ' Van- 
couver Island Times.' 

The leading religious bodies have places of worship, 
and are presided over for the most part by excellent 
clergymen and ministers. 

The Catholics were first in the field. They have a 
commodious church, and three extensive schools. Two 
of these latter buildings are of brick — the one for boys, 
under the tuition of priests and freres, the other for girls, 
who are taught by sisters of charity : the attention 
these devout women pay to poor and orphan children, 
does more to secure for them the respect and confidence 
of even Protestant families than a thousand volumes on 
polemical theology could do. The behaviour of pupils 
in the Catholic schools on the coast, at least north of the 
border of Mexico, is unsurpassed by that of any Protes- 
tant educational institutions. There is a Koman Catholic 
bishop in Victoria who has toiled among the Indians 
nearly thirty years. It is said that a considerable por- 
tion of the means by which that Church is sustained 
comes from the Propaganda of Lyons. 

The episcopal church is ^established by law. Its 
clergy in both colonies include a bishop, one or two arch- 
deacons, and about a dozen priests and deacons.. The 
diocese was founded with a magnificent endowment by 
Miss Burdett Coutts, amounting to 25,000^. The interest 

G 



82 EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

of this, which is invested in the colony, goes to pay the 
salary of the bishop, and to this sum have been added 
donations and subscriptions for the support of the 
clergy. 

A grant of twenty acres of land in the heart of the 
town site of Victoria was made to the pioneer church 
erected under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company 
before the period of gold discoveries. This land, com- 
paratively valueless at the time it was given, has now 
become greatly enhanced in value, and promises, as the 
town increases, to render the Church a wealthy corpora- 
tion. Upon this ground stands the residence of the 
bishop. 

In addition to the Church reserve, the English Church 
bishop has secured large tracts of land in town and country 
districts by purchase. There are two Episcopal congre- 
gations in the city. One of these existed before the 
diocese was created, and the other has been gathered in 
connection with an iron church, sent out by the bishop ; 
the materials of which were provided by benefactions 
of friends in England. Up to the present time not more 
than one or two of the Episcopal congregations are self- 
supporting in either this or the sister colony.* 

* In an appeal which appeared in the Times a few months since in "behalf 
of ' the spread of the Gospel in foreign parts,' signed by the Archbishops of 
Canterbury, York, Armagh, and Dublin, there are quotations from the letters 
of colonial bishops, urging the necessity of aid being granted to extend their 
operations, by the ' Society for Propagating the Gospel.' Among the claimants 
for assistance from the home branch of the Church is the Bishop of Columbia. 
Upon his position in this appeal, The British Colonist (of November 8, 
1864) — the leading newspaper in these colonies — makes the following 
animadversion : — t The Bishop of Columbia figures somewhat conspicuously 
in the demand for clerical aid — asking for no less a number than thirteen 
additional clergy and five catechists (with 4,000/. to support them). If we 
thought that Christianity would be in any degree forwarded by this whole- 
sale influx of ministers from England, we could not of course object to the 



NONCONFORMISTS. 83 

The Congregationalists have a place of worship, in 
which religious ordinances have been sustained for five 
years, partially with the assistance of the ' British Colonial 
Missionary Society,' 

The Presbyterians have recently built an edifice, the 
minister being supported by the Presbyterian Church of 
Ireland. The adherents of their cause are chiefly settlers 
from Canada, where this denomination is numerous. 

The Methodists, who also have a church, are Canadians 
almost exclusively. 

The Jews have erected a synagogue, and are presided 
over by an intelligent and respectable rabbi. It is not to 
the honour of Christians that this should be the most costly 
religious structure in the place, and the only one that is 
built of brick ; the others being of wood only, of wood and 
plaster, or of corrugated iron. All the Christian congre- 
gations have Sunday schools attached to them. 

The Church of Scotland has recently sent a clergyman 
to Victoria, who has formed a congregation, but has not 
as yet any church.* 

arrangement ; but what Bishop Hills is to do with his "thirteen clergymen and 
Jive catechists " in a place so literally overrun by reverend gentlemen as this, is a 
mathematical problem we should like very much to see the bishop solve. A 
healthy competition in religion is as desirable as it is in commerce or trade, 
but we know of no superfluity in the market so injurious to all concerned as 
the clerical drug. At present we have more clergymen in the country than can 
Jlnd congregations ; but if we get such an inundation as the Bishop is bargain- 
ing for we are afraid a greater number will have to content themselves like Dean 
Siuift, in his early career, ivith an auditory of one, and that his servant. ' 

When it is remembered that up to this date not more than 14,000 emi- 
grants are to be found in Vancouver Island and British Columbia collec- 
tively, — and many of these are of a migratory description, — it must be con- 
fessed that these remarks administer a seasonable rebuke to one who calls 
for so lavish an expenditure of the Propagation Society's funds. Besides. 
Dissenters are largely represented, and to their denominations most of the 
people belong. 

* All places devoted to Christian worship in North America are called 
churches without distinction of sects. 

g 2 



84 COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. 

The city is abundantly supplied with schools, in which 
is taught every branch of a superior English education. 
6 The Collegiate School/ conducted by a principal, vice- 
principal, and assistant masters, is patronised and aided 
by Bishop Hills, and is connected with his denomination. 
Besides the elements of a plain education, instruction is 
given in the ancient classics, French, German, mathe- 
matics, music, and drawing ; all these departments being 
under the supervision of competent masters. 

Under the auspices of the same Church there is also a 
Ladies' College, in which several governesses labour with 
great assiduity. The fees in both these establishments 
are 11. per month and upwards, according to the number 
of subjects in which teaching is imparted. 

' The Colonial School,' under a master salaried by the 
Local Government, is designed for families unequal to the 
expense of a first-class education. There are not less than 
six private Protestant day-schools, kept by ladies and 
gentlemen respectively, most of which are carefully super- 
intended. 

It is expected that in a short time a bill will pass the 
Legislature for the establishment of what is known in 
Canada as a 'Common-School System.' Under this de- 
sirable measure a tax will be levied upon the inhabit- 
ants for the erection and support of schools, in which the 
children of all bona fide settlers will be taught free of 
charge.* 

* The clergy of the English Church have been loud in agitation for the 
introduction of the Bible into the proposed Common Schools ; but the bulk 
of the inhabitants are unwilling to accede to that arrangement in consequence 
of the mixed character of the community. There are individuals of every 
race, and members of every religious persuasion in the colonies ; and it is 
maintained — as in Canada and the United States — that it would be unjust 
to Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, and Mohammedans, to adopt exclusively the 
text-book of any one religion. In order to avoid sectarian strife it is thought 



JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. 85 

Every kind of useful article in the category of iron 
manufacture can now be made in Victoria. Already 
there are two foundries, one of which employs a large 
number of hands. 

Five breweries are at work, and produce porter, a 
light quality of ale, and lager beer. 

There are several saw mills, a tannery, and a sash and 
door manufactory. 

Among the occupations described in the half-yearly 
return, under the ' Trades' License Act,' those under which 
rank the greatest number of names are carpenters and 
builders, grocers, merchants, clothiers, bakers, teamsters, 
and fruiterers.* 

6 The Victoria Gas Company ' (Joint Stock, Limited) 
was formed two years since, and possesses a capital of 
10,000/., which may by special resolution be increased to 
20,000/. 

The half-yearly account of this Company to June 30, 
1864, exhibits a highly satisfactory result. The cash 
balance in the bank, as certified by the auditors, was 
#9,817 70c. A dividend at the rate of 15 per cent per 
annum for the half-year absorbed #6,562 50c, leaving a 
balance of #3,255 20c. to be carried to the reserved fund 
for contingencies. Pipes are now laid in all the principal 
streets, and gas is preferred by shopkeepers as more 
economical than paraffin or any other sort of oil for 
lighting purposes. 

The following is a list of the Joint Stock Companies in 
Victoria, registered to August 1, 1864, under 'The Van- 
couver Island Joint Stock Companies' Act, 1860 :' — 

desirable that to the instrumentality of Sunday Schools and parental effort 
should be intrusted the religious welfare of children. 

* Prices of provisions, clothing, &c, with rates of wages and rent, are 
given in the chapter on ' Emigration.' 



86 



MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. 



When registered. 


Capital. 


Nov. 27, 1860 


. £10,000 


„ 26 ; 1861 


. 8,000 


April 8, 1862 


. 10,000 


June 25, 1862 


. 6,000 


Nov. 21, 1862 


. 50,000 


Jan. 1, 1863 


. 60,000 


v 2 » 


. 15,000 


Mar. 17 „ 


400 


Aug. 27 „ 


. 6,000 


Jan. 6, 1864 


. 8,000 


„ 26 „ , 


. 2,200 


Mar. 28 „ . 


. 2,000 


April 4 „ 


. 12,000 


4 

v * >> 


. 8,000 


„ 17 „ • 


. 4,200 


v IS v - 


. 15,000 


May 17 „ . 


. 7,200 


June 1 „ 


. 34,000 


Aug. 1 „ . 


. 10,000 



Company. 
Victoria Gas 

Do. Market 

British Columbia and Vancouver Island! 

Mining J 

Bentinck Arm and Fraser River Road 
Victoria and Esquimalt Railway . 
Bute Inlet Wagon Road 
Victoria Water- Works 
Soques Creek Silver Mining 
Skidegate Copper Mining 
Sansum Copper Mining 
Muir Quartz .... 

Goldstream Quartz-Crushing Company 
Garibaldi Copper Mining 
Harewood Railway 
Parmeter Quartz .... 
Sooke Copper Mining . 
Alberni Mining .... 
Fuca Straits Coal Mining . 
Spring Ridge Water- Works 

The last-named of these Companies has materially aug- 
mented the conveniences of the city by the introduction 
of excellent spring water in service pipes, thereby re- 
ducing much the cost of this essential of life to the 
inhabitants. Formerly it had to be conveyed in carts 
a long distance, at a charge of sixpence for every three 
bucketfuls. 

The city was incorporated in 1862 ; but some flaw in 
the Act of Incorporation has for a time occasioned a sus- 
pension of municipal authority, and interrupted the action 
of the corporation. This legal defect, however, will soon 
be remedied by a new Act of Parliament. City revenue 
is raised by a trading license, and a tax of one fourth of 
one per cent on the current value of real property. 

It is not improbable that some difficulty may yet arise 
to exercise the skill of the municipal body in regard to 
the sewage of the place. While it is small no incon- 
venience is felt, but the entire absence of a river for the 



CHARTERED BANKS. 87 

purpose of draining Victoria may involve the necessity of 
adopting some costly expedient for carrying the drainage 
beyond the harbour. Perhaps, however, before this diffi- 
culty presses means may be devised — as in London at 
present — for utilising this valuable manure. 

Another want there is which can be more easily sup- 
plied. In the original plan of the town no open spaces 
were reserved for public squares — aptly designated by 
Burke ' lungs ' of great cities. 

There are two chartered banks in Victoria — a branch 
of ' the Bank of British North America,' and another of 
6 the Bank of British Columbia.' The latter has started 
prosperous agencies in Nanaimo, New Westminster, Yale, 
Cariboo, and San Francisco. The substance of the report 
of an adjourned meeting of the shareholders, held in 
London on September 2, 1864, will show what progress 
this institution is making : c The meeting was held in the 
London Tavern, Mr. Kay in the chair. By resolutions 
passed August 17, respecting the new charter, it was 
deemed expedient that the Company should be autho- 
rised to establish banks of issue and deposit, and to carry 
on the general business of banking in such cities, towns, 
and places on the western coast of America, and in the 
adjacent islands, as Her Majesty should be pleased to 
allow ; and it was resolved, among other things, that the 
directors should be authorised to apply for and accept a 
supplemental charter. On the motion of the chairman, 
the resolutions were confirmed. A general meeting is 
called for the 26th inst. The report which is to be pre- 
sented at this meeting, states that the profit at the end of 
the half year, ending June 30, 1864, was 11,105/. 16s. 6d. ; 
but of this sum the directors propose to appropriate 5,000/., 
for a dividend of 8 per cent per annum, free of income- 
tax. 4,000/. is to be added to the reserve fund, which is 



88 VALUE OF TOWN PEOPERTY. 

thereby increased to 6,000/., and 2,105/. 16s. M. is carried 
forward to the current half year.' 

Attached to the Bank of British North America there 
is an assay office, where gold-dust is melted and valued 
by qualified and trustworthy officials. 

These banking-houses are allowed to issue notes on 
condition of retaining in their safes specie to the value of 
one third the notes in circulation.* 

A few illustrations of the augmented value of town 
property may be adduced, as an index of the prosperity 
of Victoria. 

A gentleman intimately known to me was offered a 
' lot,' at the close of 1859, at 1,000/., with an extension of 
time to pay for it. That property (60 feet by 120 feet) 
was leased for thirty years in 1860 at 15/. per month. In 
a short time afterwards the lessee was in the receipt from 
it of an income, free of all taxes, amounting to 50/. per 
month. Lots in Fort Street, that were bought in 1858 
for 10/. or 20/. each, are now assessed at 1,000/. and up- 
wards. Two brothers invested 800/. in town property in 
the spring of that year, and in little more than six years 
their land is assessed at more than 12,000/. A corner lot 
on Yates and Government Streets, that cost the present 
proprietor 1,100/., now rents for 50/. per month; another, 
belonging to the same gentleman, for which he paid 600/., 
now brings him 16/. per month ; and another still, pur- 
chased at 1,200/., now yields a rent of 18/. per month. 

There is a person luxuriating in England at the present 
moment who went to the island as a poor ship carpenter. 
"When the rush of immigration came in 1858, he and his 

* The firm of Wells, Fargo, and Co., an American house, does a large 
banking as well as express business. They have special messengers to con- 
vey treasure, parcels, and letters between Victoria and San Francisco. They 
also sell drafts on the principal towns of the United States and England. 



TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. 



89 



wife were living behind the bar of a small public-house — 
the resort of sailors. He bought about 40/. or 60/. worth 
of property after he arrived, which now brings him the 
handsome income of 4,000/. per annum. Another in- 
habitant, with whose history I am familiar, brought to 
the country in ] 857 60/., and the land he purchased with 
that amount now realises to him 80/. per month. A piece 
of land which at the close of 1859 was purchased for a 
church, is now estimated to be worth at least 1,000/. 

A friend of mine bought 100 acres in the suburbs in 
1861, at 20/. per acre, the purchase-money to be paid in 
instalments extending over a twelvemonth. He paid 
down 4/. to legalise the transaction ; and, in a fortnight 
afterwards, cut up the estate into lots of five acres each, 
and resold it at an average advance of 12/. per acre. 
These are only casual instances of successful investment 
in property, out of many that might be enumerated. 

It must be acknowledged that city property has been 
subject to fluctuations. Still, there is no probability of its 
ever being lower than it is at present. 

A LIST OF TRADES AND PROFESSIONS IN VICTORIA. 



Auctioneers . . . 


7 


Bankers 


4 


Agents .... 


7 


Billiard halls 


17 


Assayers 


2 


Bowling alleys 


3 


Accountants, &c. .. 


2 


Biscuit-baker. 


1 


Architects .. 


4 


Bricklayers . 


2 


Builders and contractors 


18 


Brass-founder 


1 


Bootmakers . 


13 


Blind- maker 


1 


Boarding-houses . 


7 


Commission merchants . 


7 


Butchers 


9 


Cabinet-makers . 


3 


Bakers 


23 


Carpenters . 


14 


Brickmakers 


5 


Coal dealers . 


3 


Brewers , 


3 


Coachmakers 


4 


Bookseller . 


1 


Clothiers 


11 


Bag and tent-makers . 


2 


Chemists and druggists . 


9 


Broker 


1 


Cigar dealers 


4 


Barristers 


5 


Cowkeepers . 


. 5 



90 



TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. 



Cutlers. 


. 2 


Machinists . 




Coffee and spice merchant 


1 


Milliners, &c. 




Coffee dealers 


2 


Masons 




Coopers 


2 


News agents . 




Charcoal dealers . 


2 


Oyster-room 




Carrier 


1 


Outfitter 




Confectioners 


3 


Painters 




Dealers in dry goods 


2 


Provision merchants 




Draymen 


. 35 


Pastrycooks . 




Drapers, mercers, &c. . 


. 7 


Photographers 




Dentist 


. 1 


Porters . 




Dealers in grains . 


. 2 


Paperhanger 




Dressmaker . 


. 1 


Plasterers 




Dealer in toys 


. 1 


Printers 




Dealer in glass and crockery 


1 


Poulterers . 




Express men and agents 


, 4 


Provision dealer . 




Engraver . . . 


1 


Pork butcher 




Estate agents 


18 


Plumber 




Fruiterers 


. 20 


Restaurateurs 




Fishmongers 


8 


Scrivener 




Furniture dealers . 


. 9 


Stove dealers 




Furrier 


. i 


Stonecutters . 




General dealers . 


, 9 


Storekeeper . 




Grocers . . . 


39 


Scourer, &c. 




Gasfitter 


1 


Saddlers 




Gunsmiths . 


2 


Shipping agent . 




Greengrocers . . 


. 2 


Sailmaker . 




General trader 


. 1 


Syrup and soda-water i 


nanu- 


Hatters 


2 


facturer 




Hairdressers 


. 8 


Shipbuilder . 




Hotel-keepers 


5 


Stationers 




Hosiers and glovers 


3 


Solicitors 




Haberdashers, &c. 


11 


Surveyor 




Hackman 


1 


Tobacconists 




Innkeepers . . . 


11 


Tailors 




Indian traders 


. 7 


Tinsmiths . 




Iron merchants 


2 


Turners and carvers 




Insurance agents . . 


2 


Traders 




Jewellers 


4 


Tea-dealers . 




Livery stable keepers . 


4 


Upholsterers 




Lime-burner 


1 


Undertaker . 




Locksmith . 


1 


Washerwomen and 


laun- 


Lumber merchants 


4 


dresses 




Mantua-makers 


8 


Watermen . 




Merchants . 


13 


Wagon maker 




Mill owner . 


1 


Watchmakers 




Mattress-maker . . , 


1 


Wood dealers 





91 



CHAPTEE IV. 

VICTOKIA AS A FREE PORT* 

Principal Free Ports throughout the World — Results of the Free Port 
System in Hamburg, the Channel Islands, and Hongkong — Importance 
of guarding Victoria against the Introduction of Customs Duties — Pro- 
posed Union with British Columbia as affecting the Free Port Arrange- 
ment — Comparative Prospects of New Westminster and Victoria — Reso- 
lutions of the Island Legislature in regard to Union — Imports — Number 
and Tonnage of Vessels — Exports of Gold from 1858 to 1864— Exports of 
British and French Goods to Sitka — Washington Territory — Oregon — Cali- 
fornia and Mexico — Commanding Position of Victoria as a Free Port, and 
the powerful Inducements it offers British Merchants for opening up Trade 
with the Coast of Western America — Facilities offered by Vancouver's 
Island for Return Cargoes to China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand 
— Californian Opinion of Victoria as a probable Rival of San Francisco — 
Description of Goods suited for the Victoria Market — Rapid Increase of 
Population in Puget Sound — The proposed Erection of Esquimalt into 
the chief Naval Station of the Pacific, the Construction of a Sanitarium 
for invalided Naval Men, and the bearing of these Events on the Growth 
of Victoria. 

Victoria is a free port in the strictest sense of that term. 
With the exception of Labuan and Hongkong it is the 
only place in the vast category of British depots for ocean 
commerce in which no customs duties are leviable. In 
addition to this city and the two localities above-mentioned, 
the principal British free ports throughout the world are 
Singapore, Malta, Gibraltar,* and the Cape of Good Hope. 
In many of our colonies, as in the United States, the 
popular opinion seems to be that the imposition of high 

* This is free for English goods only. 



92 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

duties is the sure path to high prosperity. At Prince 
Edward's Island wine pays 23 per cent duty ; machinery, 
20 per cent; and clocks, 25 per cent. Canada charges 
from 10 to 100 per cent on all staple articles of import, 
and only admits free a few of a minor description.* 
Most of the other British possessions have framed their 
scales of tariff after the English model. In other European 
countries the great mercantile centres of this character are 
Heligoland, Bremen, Odessa, and Hamburg. In the 
West Indies, St. Thomas is free, and ranks as the banking 
house of that part of the world. Odessa carries on 
both a foreign and internal trade very much like Victoria. 
In Hamburg, the mart and port for Germany, there is 
a uniform half per cent ad valorem duty. But the British 
commercial capital of the North West Coast of America, 
bearing the name of the Sovereign, has the honourable dis- 
tinction of being perfectly free. Thus, as was remarked by 
the ' Times,' we are enabled to feed the hungry and clothe 
the naked in neighbouring states ; and the New York cor- 
respondent of that paper, in a letter published in September, 
said : — ' British goods paying no duty pour from Victoria 
in Vancouver Island into California, whose citizens are 
thus enabled to clothe themselves in purple and fine linen, 
without paying tribute to the Washington treasury.' 

It is unquestionable that free ports, though usually 
established in districts comparatively non-producing and 
not eminently favourable for the pursuits of agriculture — 
but chiefly depending upon foreign and internal trade — 
are among the most flourishing cities in the world. A 
modern writer says in regard to Hamburg, where trade 
is almost entirely free : — 

* Gaspy, in Canada, is in the anomalous position of being nominally a free 
port ; but is so surroimded by restrictions that an outlet for goods from it is 
impossible. 



HAMBURG AND OTHER PORTS. 93 

Its transactions consist partly in agency, but chiefly in 
purchase and sale for merchants who buy the commodities of 
Great Britain, France, Spain, and the United States, and supply 
with these all the countries on the Elbe and the Ehine, and a 
great part of the Prussian and Austrian dominions. Hamburg 
was established as a free city less than 100 years ago, and with 
that freedom she has prospered in population and wealth, and 
now her vessels entering and leaving number some 20,000 
annually, with a tonnage of two millions. 

The Channel Islands are another illustration of the same 
advantage. Only a few duties are levied there, and in pro- 
portion to the area of these islands and their opportunities 
of extending local commerce there is no spot on the globe 
where more trade is done or where property rules at such 
a high value. Land, which on the opposite coast of 
England fetches 30s. per acre, in Jersey brings an annual 
rental of from hi. to 40/. 

The prodigious increase in our trade with China dates 
from the opening of Hongkong as a free port. ' Customs 
duties cramp commerce like the iron shoes on the feet of 
Chinese girls. Our cry in London now is, No turnpikes^ 
and they are fast being demolished ; but there is little 
chance of our losing our Custom-house turnpike. A free 
port is the merchant's paradise, the sailor's haven, and the 
mart of mankind. Should any one propose a tariff for 
Victoria they should be sent to — Hongkong ! ' * 

Our infant city has a claim upon the attention of 
capitalists and politicians as the most interesting of British 
commercial centres in which that grand idea of modern 
political science — for which we are mainly indebted to the 
late lamented Mr. Cobden — is destined to be carried to its 
fullest development. 

This liberal fiscal system as applied to local commerce 

* Letter from the London correspondent of The Victoria Chronicle. 



94 VICTORIA AS A FREE POET. 

is the foundation of the present and prospective prosperity 
of Victoria. It has attracted to the colony the bulk of our 
population, and enriched our landlords. In its tendency to 
augment the number of consumers — as examples of free 
ports elsewhere illustrate — it will furnish a large and 
remunerative market for farming produce. The agricul- 
turists of the colony who send men to represent them in 
the Legislature for the purpose of obtaining a protective 
tariff had need to pause before committing themselves to 
a policy so suicidal. Its adoption is the certain insertion of 
the thin point of the wedge and the admission of a principle 
that, under pressure of financial necessity, our colonial 
authorities might be tempted to extend to general imports. 
The time for protection is gone. That article in the creed 
of Conservatism is expunged for ever, and duties are no 
longer levied in England but as a source of revenue. No 
precedent should be sanctioned in Victoria that would 
entail the difficulties and annoyances of Custom-houses, 
the paraphernalia of bonded warehouses, the inconvenience 
and expense of revenue service officials, inducements 
to fraud and speculation, and the necessity of withdrawing 
goods from bond at stated intervals. Bays, inlets, and 
other entrances, with which our coast is indented, are so 
numerous as to offer peculiar facilities for smuggling, and 
necessitate a vast army of tide-waiters that might be 
prevented. Import duties would drive away foreign ship- 
ping, close our stores, and inevitably call into existence 
some rival port in the neighbouring American territory by 
which our commerce would be ruined. 

But not only would tampering with the present 
immaculateness of our free port ultimately result in the 
depreciation of real estate, the decay of commerce, and 
the diminution of the public revenue, but also in the 
decline of agriculture and the ruin of the farmer. Not 



RELATIONS OF VICTORIA AND WESTMINSTER. 95 

only does our existing immunity from Customs' charges 
contribute to the rapid extension of population, but it 
enables the farmer to purchase manufactured imports at 
much less expense than he could do under a protective 
system.* 

In the discussion which has been agitating the colonists 
of British Columbia and Vancouver Island both in and out 
of the Colonial Legislature, on the question of the organic 
union of these two colonies, the problem which has com- 
plicated the proposed scheme is, how, in the event of 
both dependencies being placed under one governor and 
electing one Parliament, the distinct modes of raising 
revenue which now obtain in the Colonies respectively 
could be maintained. It is argued that British Columbia 
being the larger colony and likely to contain the larger 
population, its representatives in the Legislative Assembly 
would sooner or later outnumber those of the island ; 
in which case British Columbian interest must predominate 
in the Parliament. Victoria is regarded by some persons 
in the sister colony as antagonistic to New Westminster, 
the latter mercantile depot being burdened with a Customs' 
tariff which constitutes the main source of the revenue 
of British Columbia. It is apprehended that even should 
the people of that colony consent to union with Vancouver 
Island at present on condition of preserving Victoria as a 
free port, those who are interested in attempts to draw 
commerce to New Westminster and inflict injury upon 
Victoria would eventually bring influence to bear through 
the more numerous electoral constituencies of British 
Columbia, unify the mode of levying taxes in both colonies, 
and thus demolish the free port system. 

These fears, however, seem to me to be without founda- 

* This point is put more fully in the chapter on ' Agriculture in the 
Island.' 



96 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

tion. The free port, upon which a portion of the citizens of 
New Westminster are disposed to look with obvious 
suspicion and jealousy, will be increasingly felt as time 
advances to be a public advantage to British Columbia in 
common with the entire Northern Coast of America in the 
Pacific. I believe the union desired by Vancouver Island 
to be practicable on the proviso of the colonies regulating 
their methods of taxation separately as they now do, and 
agreeing to pay a proportion of the general income of the 
local Government to be fixed according to the revenue of 
each. This last article in the Constitution would probably 
call for an adjustment of the Legislative representation that 
would leave Vancouver Island with a minority of members 
in Parliament. But if the commercial status quo of that 
colony be immovably established by the instrument of 
union, all other details connected with the joint adminis- 
tration of both colonies might be very easily, amicably, 
and permanently settled. The greatest physical advantages 
with which the island has been endowed are its harbours ; 
situated in convenient proximity to the ocean, which point 
out for the southern part of the colony a high commercial 
destiny. There are no such capacious places of anchorage 
between San Francisco and the Eussian possessions of 
America. The natural advantages conferred upon a 
country indicate the direction in which its interests should 
be developed with the greatest care. 

Had England been preeminently adapted for agricul- 
tural operations it would have been preposterous that 
commerce and manufactures should receive supreme at- 
tention from British capitalists. Vancouver Island having 
capabilities of a similar nature to those of the parent 
country — there being greater inducements presented for 
the extension of commerce than for farming, — we should 
be infatuated to protect farming at the expense of arresting 



UNION OF THE COLONIES. 97 

the influx of commerce. For we should thus sacrifice 
what nature designed should be our prime interest for one 
which nature with equal clearness intimates must always 
hold a secondary place. The same argument applies to 
the subject of union. That object is sought with a view 
to securing strength and economy, as there would then 
be but one government and one staff of leading officials. 
But if it were found, on calm deliberation, that the free 
action of the commerce of Victoria were likely to be in 
the slightest degree jeopardised by the union, all thought 
of it should be abandoned. 

Let the union, however, be successfully inaugurated, 
with Victoria as a port kept free, and in ten years the 
opposition which has been waged by certain lotholders 
in New Westminster against our rising port would be 
counterbalanced by the masses of British Columbia pro- 
testing against any attempt on the part of their political 
representatives to meddle with existing fiscal arrange- 
ments in Victoria. 

The advantages of the free port to British Columbia 
are plain. That colony is furnished with whatever foreign 
commodities she may want at a far cheaper rate than she 
could otherwise procure them. The merchant there is 
enabled to purchase, in Victoria, his goods in such assorted 
quantities as suit his limited market, and then he saves 
the outlay and risk attending large direct importation from 
Europe and Asia. 

The comparative prospects of Victoria and New West- 
minster are set forth in the following extract from an 
article that appeared in ' The British Colonist,' from my 
pen, in September 1863, when, through the unfortunate 
intervention of my friend, the Hon. Malcolm Cameron of 
Canada, the colony of British Columbia received from the 
Duke of Newcastle a separate government. 

H 



98 VICTOKIA AS A FREE PORT. 

' The gratifying prospect of obtaining the services of a 
governor exclusively devoted to the protection of the 
interests of that colony, and the anticipated inception of 
representative government by a corps legislatif, have com- 
bined to revive in the merchants and landowners of New 
Westminster the long-cherished hope of undermining the 
prosperity of Victoria, and centralising the commercial 
activity which now distinguishes this port in that rival 
city. Earnestly do we trust that the auspicious epoch 
about to be inaugurated in the adjacent colony may bring 
peace to the spirits of certain of its inhabitants, so long 
chafed by the spectacle of a neighbouring city striding in 
advance of New Westminster with provoking rapidity. 
Sincerely do we desire that the favourable condition soon 
to be introduced may offer advantages corresponding to 
the utmost expectations of our fellow-subjects, for the 
trial of that fond and ambitious experiment by which it 
is attempted to transfer the crown of mercantile prece- 
dence from Victoria to New Westminster. The more 
complete the opportunity afforded of ascertaining how 
far that project is practicable, the sooner will our irritable 
neighbours be induced to relinquish it as Utopian, and 
concur with all sane populations on this coast in acknow- 
ledging Victoria as the grand port for ocean shipping, and 
the unrivalled emporium for the distribution of English 
imports throughout British and American territory on the 
shores of the Pacific. During the last four years and a 
half the prevailing sentiments indulged by owners of 
stores and lords of the soil in the capital of British Co- 
lumbia towards the inhabitants of Victoria have been of 
a cantankerous description, and singularly inappropriate 
between citizens of colonies ruled by one sceptre, and 
indissolubly interwoven in the network of common ma- 
terial interests. Vituperation has been lavished profusely 



COMPARED WITH NEW WESTMINSTER. 99 

upon the Executive of James's Bay, by the press of the 
Queen City of Fraser Eiver. The leading representatives 
of trade, including the Hudson Bay Company, and persons 
among us found convicted of investing money in real 
estate in Victoria, have been anathematised as conspirators 
against the progress of New Westminster. Any respect- 
able inhabitant of this place, who has possessed sufficient 
courage to visit that city, has usually been suspected of 
malicious espionnage, and exposed to forms of address 
hardly calculated to sweeten his recollections of the trip. 
When, with becoming meekness and fervency, we have 
entreated our indignant neighbours to accept assurances 
of the goodwill of the people of Victoria, they have only 
waxed more perverse, and illustrated the expressive lines 
of the satirist — 

They joined in one harmonious grunt, 
"We wunt, we wunt, we wunt ; we wunt. 

6 We had thought that the celebrated fable of " the Fox 
and the Grapes " would cease to have any application to 
them, and that their exaggerated hopes of attaining pre- 
eminence in trade would ere this have been abundantly 
sobered down by past ineffectual exertions to reach that 
coveted position. But with heroic purpose and aug- 
mented infatuation they are again rallying their energies 
to grasp that dazzling object on which their aspirations 
have been unquenchably set. 

'The contemplated separation of the two colonies is 
viewed as removing one important barrier that formerly 
opposed the satisfaction of their wishes. The residence 
of the new Executive of British Columbia in New West- 
minster, it is believed, will present fascinations whose 
splendour will tempt merchants to abandon those spacious 
warehouses lining our harbour, and beg the privilege of 
erecting substitutes on the banks of the Fraser. It is 



100 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

with regret that we have to burden the sense of propriety 
in our readers still further, by informing them of a pro- 
phecy current in oracular circles, in the charmed city, 
that (mirabile dictu!) in four years from the establishment 
of the new administrative regime, statistics will demon- 
strate New Westminster, in respect of wealth and popu- 
lation, to be triumphant. The issue of the question con- 
cerning the comparative prospects of these rival cities is 
not left to be determined, however, by the will of even 
those representatives of commercial and political wisdom 
who preside over the destinies of New Westminster. 
There are inflexible laws controlling the growth of mer- 
cantile centres, against which all the force of their col- 
lective intelligence, and all the sagacity and magnificence 
of their improved government cannot prevail. The pas- 
sion of caprice or personal aggrandisement may impel 
individual pioneers in an infant country to select a par- 
ticular location for the founding of a sea-port. But 
unless the choice made turn out to be in obvious harmony 
with public interest, competitive enterprise, which in the 
aggregate cannot be ultimately satisfied without the at- 
tainment of the utmost possible advantage to the greatest 
number, will speedily set that choice aside. It were 
therefore an outrage upon the natural instincts of the 
community, to imagine that trade in the Gulf of Georgia 
should be permitted to radiate from Victoria as the chief 
commercial centre in preference to New Westminster, 
unless the topographical superiority of the former place 
had plainly commended it to the approval of our whole- 
sale importers and minor traders generally, as the depot 
most compatible with the widest public advantage. The 
situation of Victoria is so remarkably adapted for the 
purposes of extensive commerce, that the natural circum- 
stances by which it is in this respect peculiarly favoured 
must be ascribed expressly to providential arrangement. 



COMPARED WITH NEW WESTMINSTER. 101 

It is convenient to the ocean, and extends to shipping 
the double protection of its ample harbour, which is not 
only far removed from exposure to the tempests that 
assail the open sea-coast, but at a safe distance from the 
stormier parts of the Gulf. It is contiguous to the yet 
more commodious harbour of Esquimalt. It is accessible 
to vessels at all seasons, and, as the mineral and timber 
products of this island and Puget Sound continue to be 
developed, the various loading points can be approached 
hence with expedition and safety ; so that, even had the 
two cities under consideration been ushered into existence 
simultaneously, the conclusion is irresistible, from the facts 
that have been adduced, that the commanding position 
enjoyed by Victoria would have infallibly gained for it 
commercial supremacy. But that inference is confirmed 
beyond dispute, when it is remembered that the prt 
more richly endowed with natural advantages is also 
greatly the senior of its querulous rival. It is as unrea- 
sonable to expect that the former can be overtaken by 
the latter, as that one steed of superior mettle to another 
and having the start of that other, should be beaten on 
the turf. So extensive has been the amount of capital 
expended on mercantile appliances in Victoria, so remu- 
nerative have those sources of wealth proved, so powerful 
is the connection formed by our importers with great 
shipping firms in England and other parts of the world, 
and so incomparably rapid has been the general progress 
of the city, that the colossal dimensions into which it is 
destined to expand are already unmistakably foreshadowed, 
as the leading mart on the sea-board north of San Fran- 
cisco. JSTor would it be astonishing were it to outmatch 
in future ages that renowned entrepot of California. 

' But among the elements of its prospective greatness, 
freedom from restrictions imposed upon the operations of 
commerce by Customs'-duties should not be omitted. The 



102 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

convenience inseparable from that untranimeled condition 
is liberally appreciated by purchasers from adjacent loca- 
lities. The free-port system has secured for us the lion's 
share of trade with British Columbia ; it occasions con- 
siderable illicit and irregular traffic with Washington 
Territory of a profitable description, and attracts increas- 
ing orders for supplies of English goods from Oregon and 
California. 

6 But while the local advantages of Victoria combine 
with the analogy of the leading city in a neighbouring 
gold-producing country, to indicate the towering impor- 
tance that must ever distinguish this port as compared 
with New Westminster, we must not be understood as 
sympathising with insinuations sometimes to be met with 
respecting alleged dangers in the navigation of the Eraser, 
and the consequent impossibility of inducing vessels of 
heavy tonnage to clear at foreign ports for the capital of 
British Columbia. The position of Montreal on the St. 
Lawrence, of Philadelphia on the Delaware, and of Wash- 
ington on the Potomac, offers no impassable barrier 
against the approach of large ships to those cities. The 
immense tract of country navigable by the Fraser marks 
out that river as the principal and indispensable channel 
of communication with the interior of British Columbia ; 
and with the ingress of population, and the multiplication 
of inland towns, the growth of the port of entry will be 
inevitable. As the wealth of resident merchants increases, 
they will enjoy the gratification for which they long, in 
witnessing ocean shipping alongside their wharves. The 
expanding trade of the colony may eventually summon 
into requisition the further accommodation offered by Bur- 
rard Inlet. An extended system of lumber-mills may 
probably offer facilities for the supply of valuable return 
cargoes. But the inflated hopes of our neighbours in 
reference to the accomplishment of that happy consum- 



PROSPECTS OF NEW WESTMINSTER. 103 

mation, are not according to discretion. Years must elapse 
before it can be realised. Invincible forces are in opera- 
tion, arising unavoidably out of geographical and com- 
mercial relations with surrounding localities, to render the 
advancement of New Westminster slow and insignificant 
in comparison with that of Victoria. Financial inability 
must prevent the chief proportion of merchants in the 
sister-capital from opening, for a considerable time, ac- 
counts with English, or even San Francisco, houses. They 
will therefore be compelled, until circumstances favour 
their forming a connection with firms at a distance, to 
accept such fare as Victoria may provide. It will be long 
before the business of any single merchant in British 
Columbia can justify him to engage in importation direct 
from the parent country, and when a company of mer- 
chants are prepared to join in that undertaking, arrivals 
at New Westminster from England, or even from countries 
less remote, will for a great while be infrequent. During 
the tedious interval in which those experiments are being 
tried, the spreading pinions of this island-emporium shall 
have grown so powerful that she will have soared infinitely 
above the reach of New Westminster — defying for ever 
the competition of all immediately surrounding rivals. 
There is certainly nothing in the past history of com- 
mercial enterprise in New Westminster to augur bril- 
liantly for the future. After the convulsive struggles of 
our neighbours to shake off dependence on Victoria, their 
bravado has only been sustained by the advent of a couple 
of vessels to their shores in four years. The merchants 
of New Westminster cannot afford to receive any consi- 
derable freight direct from a distance, till the demand from 
the upper country in their market is sufficiently brisk to 
guarantee their turning over the amount of invoice within 
such limited period as is commensurate with their obtain- 
ing a remunerative interest upon outlay. While small 



104 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

packages are most suitable to the wants and the means of 
traders, the inconveniences will be much fewer in procur- 
ing small stocks from Victoria, than in their uniting to 
charter a vessel to bring their wares from a distance. It 
is unnecessary to dwell on this part of the subject. It has' 
been maintained that the charges in freight, storage, and 
commission, incurred by the transit of goods to New 
Westminster via Victoria, cannot longer be endured, and 
that the saving in those items accruing from direct ship- 
ments would enable the merchants of New Westminster 
to undersell those in our port. But that assertion simply 
amounts to saying, that the importers of Victoria gain such 
enormous profits that they could easily afford to reduce 
them, and that any attempt at competition in New West- 
minster would at once make them resolve to do so. The 
only source of custom we can see open to the port of 
entry on the Eraser Eiver consists of the smaller traders 
in Yale, Douglas, and similar places in the interior, whose 
finances do not admit of their buying in quantities large 
enough to make a shipment from Victoria worth while. 
But, directly their resources improve, they will naturally 
purchase where they can have the largest scope for selec- 
tion . Still the number of third-rate traders in the upper 
country will always be sufficient to insure a quiet, steady, 
and advancing trade to New Westminster. We regard 
the relation subsisting between Sacramento and San Fran- 
cisco as definitely illustrative of the position just discussed. 
' Finally, it should not be overlooked that the transport 
of provisions to the northern mines is likely to be much 
less expensive by the coast routes via Bentinck Arm and 
Bute Inlet, than by the existing mode of conveyance via 
Fraser Eiver. Should that prediction be verified, a con- 
siderable amount of traffic will unquestionably be diverted 
from the present chief port of British Columbia, that 
would otherwise fall to its lot. But every rival depot in that 



RESOLUTIONS ON UNION. 105 

colony, while tending to check the commercial predomi- 
nance of JSTew Westminster, will open an additional market 
for the merchandise of Victoria. So that, while the dis- 
tribution of wealth and population in that colony will 
determine for JSTew Westminster a very circumscribed 
position as compared with Victoria, the latter will keep 
adding innumerable strings to its already powerful bow, 
and absorbing, as it now does, a ratio of inhabitants equal 
to one third of the entire population of both colonies. We 
would invoke the industrious citizens of the emulous port 
with which our remarks have been concerned, in the name 
of concord, amity, and common sense, to lay aside all 
unjustifiable bitterness toward their more fortunate neigh- 
bours on this side the gulf, and resign themselves to their 
destiny.' 

Subjoined are the resolutions passed by the Legislature 
of Vancouver Island in October last, in reference to the 
proposed union : — 

I. Resolved, That this House is of opinion : 

1. That there should be a Federal Union of Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia. 

2. That the Federal Government should be vested in the 
G-overnor and Federal Legislative Council. 

3. That the Legislative Council be composed of an equal 
number of persons from each colony. 

4. There shall be one Governor for both colonies. 

5. That the Governor and Legislative Council shall have 
jurisdiction over all public questions in which both colonies have 
a common interest. 

6. That each local Legislature should have a right to deter- 
mine the mode of taxation within its jurisdiction for federal as 
well as local purposes. 

7. That the Crown Eevenues be the property of the Federal 
Government. 

8. That all laws, usages, and liabilities of each colony, except 
where altered by Act of Federal Union, remain as they are, till 
changed by the the Federal or Local Legislature respectively. 



106 



VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 



II. Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be respect- 
fully requested to enter into negotiations with His Excellency 
the Grovernor of British Columbia v with the object of establish- 
ing a Federal Union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, 
based on the provisions of the previous Eesolutions. 

III. Resolved, That His Excellency the Grovernor be respect- 
fully urged to submit every question of difference, not affecting 
our free trade policy, between himself and His Excellency the 
Grovernor of British Columbia respecting the proposed Federal 
Union, to Her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the 
Colonies, for final decision, binding on both colonies. 

IV. Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to 
explain the views of this House, as embraced in the foregoing 
Eesolutions to His Excellency the Grovernor. 

V. Resolved, That the foregoing Eesolutions be transmitted 
to His Excellency the Grovernor. 

The value of imports to Victoria from all quarters in 
1863, amounted to about 770,000/., showing an advance, 
as compared with the imports of 1861, of about 368,000/., 
and with those of 1862, of about 260,000/. 



Total Amount of Imports into the Port of Victoria, Van- 
couver Island, for the years 1861-63. 

1861 





1st Quarter 


2nd Quarter 


3rd Quarter 


4th Quarter 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


San Francisco . 


331,731 


315,013 


234,956 


271,713 


Portland . 


47,188 


54,040 


25,189 


42,874 


Puget Sound 


29,257 


45,278 


51,564 


50,346 


British Columbia 


— 


1,605 


14,171 


1,507 


Honolulu . 


11,328 


6,999 


11,419 


12,735 


China 


— 


— 


— 


— 


Melbourne 


— 


— 


— 


— 


Valparaiso 


— 


— 


— 


— 


England . 

Total value o 


164,350 


45,547 


57,530 


191,084 
570,259 


583,854 


468,482 


395 ; 829 


' imports foi 


1861 


#2,018,424 



IMPORTS. 



107 



1862 





1st Quarter 


2nd Quarter 


3rd Quarter 


4th Quarter 


# 


$ 


$ 


$ 


San Francisco . 


417,847 


867,345 


563,812 


540,857 


Portland . 


14,788 


24,934 


22,330 


13,318 


Puget Sound 


57,144 


58,914 


38,727 


69,998 


British Columbia 


13,100 


1,200 


9,635 


8,489 


Honolulu . 


47,134 


32,695 


26,361 


5,918 


China 


— 


— 


— 


22,268 


Melbourne 


— 


— 


32,170 


— 


Valparaiso 


— 


— 


17,000 


— 


England . 

Total value oJ 


162,479 


49,239 


288,511 


204,019 


712,492 


1,034,327 


998,546 


804,877 


' imports foi 


1862 


#2,550,242 



1863 





1st Quarter 


2nd Quarter 


3rd Quarter 


4th Quarter 


$ 


$ 


$ 


$ 


San Francisco . 


596,486 


411,207 


523,149 


410,585 


Portland . 


24,975 


39,242 


38,440 


18,607 


Puget Sound 


101,317 


69,980 


34,356 


65,389 


British Columbia 


3,998 


7,745 


21,043 


38,991 


Honolulu . 


12,918 


35,380 


25,092 


40,096 


China 


— 


— 


44,434 


1,000 


Melbourne 


— 


— 


— 


— 


Valparaiso 


— 


— 


— 


— 


England . 

Total value oi 


372,370 


256,383 


628,890 


38,360 


1,112,061 


819,937 


1,315,404 


613,028 


- imports for 


1863 


#3,860,4 


B0 



Imports for the six months ending December 31, 1859, #1,090,090 
„ „ June 30, 1860, #1,405,801. 



It will be seen from the following tabular return of 
tonnage, that the number of vessels was greater in 1862 
than in 1863, while the amount of tonnage in the latter year 

The excess in the number 



was larger than in the former 



108 



VICTOKIA AS A FREE PORT. 



of vessels for 1862 is accounted for by the unusually ex- 
tensive immigration which took place in that year. 

Comparative Return of the Number and Tonnage of Vessels 
of each Nation, entered at the Port of Victoria, during the 
years 1861-63. 







L861 


1862 




L863 


Nationality. 




























No. 


Tonnage 


No. 


Tonnage 


No. 


Tonnage 


Colonial . 


425 


16,756 


414 


56,781 


607 


62,722 


British 


53 


9,026 


14 


8,425 


20 


11,542 


American 


598 


75,974 


728 


132,723 


585 


104,585 


German . 


— 


— 


1 


346 


1 


523 


Danish 


— 


— 


1 


351 


— 


— 


Hanover . 


— 


— 


1 


363 


— 


— 


Prussian . 
Total . 


— 


— 


1 


261 


— 


— 


1,076 


101,756 


1,160 


.199,250 


1,213 


179,372 



It will be seen from the summary of imports for October 
1864, that it exhibits a much larger ratio than the table 
of the preceding year does. 



rom England .... 


125,497 


„ California 


181,015 


„ Oregon .... 


17,838 


„ Puget Sound . 


25,237 


„ British Columbia 


2,973 


„ Sandwich Islands 


6,745 


Total 


359,305 



Up to the close of December 1864, there was an actual 
increase of imports from England, as compared with those 
of 186 3, of #112,773. 



EXPOETS OF GOLD. 



109 



Exports of Gold from 1858 to 1864. 



Shippers 


1858-1860 


1861 


1862 


1863 




$ 


$ 


$ 


* 


Wells, Fargo & Co. 


2,459,719 


1,340,395 


1,573,096 


1,373,446 


Macdonald & Co. . 


(includ. in 1861) 


1,207,656 


335,379 


— 


Bank of British Co- 










lumbia 


— 


— 


— 


824,876 


Bank of British 










North America . 


— 


— 


— 


585,618 


H. B. Co. and other 










shippers (approxi- 










mate calculation to 










the end of 1862) . 


— 


— 


[349,000 


— 


Hudson Bay Co. . 


— 


— 


— 


66,232 


Other shippers 


— 


— 


— ■ 


85,000 


2,459,719 


2,548,051 


2,257,475 


2,935,172 



Recapitulation. 

Wells, Fargo & Co. (total shipments to 1863) 
Macdonald & Co. do. 

Bank of British Columbia, do. 
Bank of British North America, do. 
Hudson Bay Co. and other shippers, do. 



6,746,654 
1,543,035 

824,876 
585,618 
500,000 

10,200,183 



This statement does not include the quantity of gold 
taken from the country in private hands. It is be- 
lieved by those qualified to form a correct opinion on 
the subject, that $5,000,000 is a very moderate average 
of the value of the precious metal that passed through 
Victoria to foreign parts in the years indicated above, 
otherwise than in connection with banks and shipping offices. 
The gross sterling value exported to the end of 1863 is 
thus brought up to about £3,000,000. 

This amount may seem insignificant to those who are 
accustomed to examine the gold export tables of Cali- 
fornia and Australia. But when it is remembered that 



110 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

till 1862 there were not 3,000 men engaged in mining, and 
that since that period there have not been a larger 
number, the value presented, viewed in proportion to 
the number of miners at work in British Columbia, will 
bear most favourable comparison with the amount pro- 
duced from the countries just specified. Indeed, when the 
extraordinary difficulties are considered that for some time 
impeded access to the mines, the result must be regarded 
as splendid, and furnishing strong inducements to men of 
capital and enterprise to follow in the steps of those hardy 
pioneers who have so successfully proved the richness of 
the country. 

It is little more than three years since the first package 
of European merchandise was exported from this place to 
American States, on the coast. Till within the past year 
our stocks of goods were not assorted and selected so 
carefully with a view to the opening of trade with foreign 
neighbours, as they ought to have been. We have had 
several commission agents in Victoria, receiving consign- 
ments from the home market, but as yet have not been 
favoured with the presence of more than two or three real 
mercantile establishments of any consideration, and even 
these larger firms have not hitherto directed that energy 
to the development of trade with foreign countries on the 
coast, which the magnificent encouragements bursting 
upon us would justify. 

But notwithstanding the meagre extent and variety of 
goods we have exposed suitable for the markets of the 
Pacific, and the limited amount of capital, mercantile talent, 
and enterprise we have brought to bear, buyers from Kus- 
sian America, Oregon, California, the Sandwich Islands, 
and Mexico, are waking up to the incalculable advantages 
afforded them by our geographical position, and free- 
dom from the inconveniences of bonded warehouses and 
Customs' duties. 



TRADE WITH SITKA AND MEXICO. Ill 

Advices from Vancouver Island, dated October 1864, 
inform us of the merchants of Sitka having opened large 
negotiations with Victoria : 

The brig i Shekeloff,' Captain Hanson, arrived yesterday 
morning from Sitka. . . . The brig belongs to the Kusso- 
American Fur-trading Company, and has come for a cargo of 
assorted merchandise, having been attracted hither by the low 
rates at which goods can be purchased in this market. Another 
vessel (a steamer), belonging to the same company, is expected 
to arrive here in a few days from the same station, on a similar 
errand. The supercargo is a gentleman who occupies a 
position equivalent to that of a chief factor in the Hudson's 
1 Bay Company. Hitherto the bulk of the trade with Sitka has 
been enjoyed by San Francisco and the free city of Hamburg. 
From the latter port a vessel freighted with goods for the Russo- 
American Company is sent out each year, and San Francisco 
vessels, seeking cargoes of ice, have carried forward to Sitka 
cargoes of general merchandise. The present diversion in 
favour of Victoria will prove, we think, instrumental in opening 
Sitka to our commerce, and eventually securing us the whole of 
that important trade. With Washington Territory, Oregon, 
California, and Mexico in the south, and British Columbia and 
Sitka in the north, knocking at our doors for goods, there would 
seem to be a bright future in store for our city. The s Shekeloff ' 
made the run down in eight days. 

No effort has as yet been made to acquaint our Mexican 
neighbours with the inducements which our market offers. 
About twelve vessels annually arrived at Gruaymas, in 
Sonora, laden with goods from England. Acapulco, 
Mazatlan, and Manzanillo also receive English shipments 
direct. Subsequent pages, however, will demonstrate that 
an immense saving of interest upon outlay is effected, and 
that orders for British goods are most expeditiously fulfilled 
by being sent to Victoria. At length this valuable com- 
mercial secret is dawning on merchants in Mexico. A few 
months since a large buyer from that country paid a visit to 



112 



VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 



Victoria, and selected the first parcel of goods ever sent 
thither from our port. His purchases amounted to $30,000. 
It is in the power of any large Victoria mercantile firm 
who will employ agents, and distribute catalogues of their 
stocks in the new Empire, now, I trust, becoming rapidly 
consolidated under its first sovereign, to build up a trade 
corresponding to that carried on by the great English 
houses in Hongkong. 

The following Table sets forth Exports of English Goods, or 
American Goods exported after Importation, but all liable 
to Duty in American Ports, for the Six Months ending 
December 1863. 



Port of destination 


July 


August 


September 


October 


November 


December 


San Francisco 

Fort Angelos (W.T.) 

Astoria 

New York . 


$ 
20,673 
5,969 
944 


g 

25,015 
6,804 

1,727 
349 


$ 

16,650 

6,187 

637 


$ 

28,112 

8,663 
4,208 


$ 

23,217 

3,988 
2,587 


25,456 

10,412 

361 


Total for the Six Mon 

San Francisco 
Port Angelos (W.T.) . 
Astoria . . . . . 
New York 

Grand total 


ths. 

$ 

139,123 

42,023 

10,464 

349 




191, 


959 



The next table is submitted to show, for the satisfaction 
of merchants in Great Britain, the description of goods 
sought for re-exportation from Victoria to the various 
parts mentioned above, and also how powerful was the 
impulse received by our export trade during the past year. 
In 1863 the monthly exports averaged at the rate of 
$400,000 per annum, and the following table for one 
month in 1864 exhibits a ratio of $850,000 per annum, or 
more than double the ratio for the preceding year. 



EXPORTS. 



113 



Exports from the Port of Victoria, V. I., to Foreign Ports 
during the month of October 1864. 





TO SITKA. 




[Per favour of Messrs. Janion, Green, and Rhodes." 




Canvas . 


7 pkgs 


Whisky 


33 csks 


Sundries 


3 pkgs 


Whisky 


10 csks 


Paper . 


3 pkgs 


Ale 


. 20 cs 


Dyed plaid . 


. 1 pkg 


Whisky 


. 50 cs 


Perfumery 


. 2cs 


Porter . 


15 csks 


Cheese . 


. 2cs 


Porter . 


. 3 cs 


Oilmen's stores 


. . 3cs 


Hams . 


2 bdls 


Salad oil 


. 5 cs 


Grindstones . 


10 


Currants 


. 1 cs 


Red wood planks . 


28 


Copper . 


. 3cs 


Carpets . 


. 2 bis 


Oilmen's stores 


. 24 cs 


Sundries 


1 trunk 


Preserved meat 


. 10 cs 


Cruet stands . 


. 1 cs 


Salt 


2 bbls 


Tar 


10 bis 


Paint . 


1 cask 


Pitch . 


10 bis 


Red lead 


. 6 kgs 


Black varnish 


. 4 bis 


Nails . 


46 kgs 


Bright varnish 


. 4 bis 


Sheet iron 


25 bdls 


Coal tar 


. 6 bis 


Corrug. iron . 


. 1 cs 


Iron pots 


. 299 


Gal. iron 


. 3 cs 


Copal varnish 


. . lgal 


Glassware 


. 1 cs 


Soap 


. . 1 pkg 


Earthenware . 


. lcrt 


Coal oil 


. 1 cs 


Tacks, screws, &c . 


. 1 cs 


Coal oil 


. 1 tin 


Sardines 


. 2cs 


Lamp black . 


. 1 cs 


Sieves . 


. 1 cs 


Yellow ochre 


. 1 cs 


Paper hangings 


1 cs 


Man. rope 


. 6 els 


Trunks and boots . 


. 6 cs 


Cord . 


4 bdls 


Sherry . 


23 qr. casks 


Man. rope 


12 els 


Sherry . 


. 40 cs 


Wire rope 


. 6cl 


Port . 


. 10 cs 


Axes 


. Gcs 


Claret . 


. 10 cs 


Fire bricks . 


. 500 


Claret .... 


. 5 cs 


Iron . 


20 bars 


Champagne . 


. 13 cs 


Iron . 


16 bdls 


Hollands 


. 33 cs 


Lead . 


. 1 roll 


Cognac .... 


. 20 cs 


Lamps . 


. 1 csk 


Rum .... 


3 pkgs 


Lamps . 


. 1 cs 


Rum .... 


. 50 cs 


Chemicals 


1 cs 


Whisky 


12 csks 


Oil and turpentine . 


. 2 cs 



114 


VICTORIA AS 


A FREE PORT. 




Chalk 1 csk 


Champagne . 


. 4 cs 


Gun flints . . . . 1 cs 


Salad oil 


. 3cs 


Stoves . 




. 1 cs 


Sundries 


. 1 cs 


Lamps . 




. 1 cs 


Arrow root . 


. 1 cs 


Tobacco 




14 pkgs 


Pickles . 


. 2cs 


Figs, &c. 




. 3cs 


Sago . 


. 2 cs 


Axes 




llbxs 


Porter . 


. 2 csks 


Plough . 




1 


Cheese . 


. 2 cs 


Soap 




40bxs 


Gin (green) . 


.162 cs 


Soap 




42bxs 


Tobacco 


. 3cs 


Boots and shoes 




. 31 cs 


Pepper . 


. 2 bgs 


Pepper . 




2 csks 


Iron pots 


. 70 


Glue 




. 1 bag 


Kettles . 


. 2 doz 


Jars 




. 1 cs 


Coffee machine 


1 


Paper . 




. 1 roll 


Stove . 


1 


Paper . 




1 parcel 


Iron kettles . 


. 4 doz 


Stationery 




. 1 box 


Shovels and spades 


. 4 doz 


Bunting 




1 parcel 


Forks . 


2 


Potatoes 




85 bgs 


Lanthorns 


. 2 cs 


Onions . 




. 5 bgs 


Lanthorns 


. 1 csk 


Prunes . 




14bxs 


Lamps . 


. 1 cs 


Nuts . 




. 8 bgs 


Stationery 


. 1 cs 


Pine apples . 




. 1 cs 


Stationery 


1 parcel 


Sugar . 




. 2 kgs 


Flour . 


. 6 bgs 


Bitters . 




1 cs 


Boots . 


. 19 cs 


Chairs . 




. 1 doz 


Tumblers 


. 1 csk 


Capers . 




. 1 cs 


Paint . 


. 7 tins 


Chocolate 




. 2 cs 


Belting . 


. 1 roll 


Ale 




. . 1 csk 


Iron 


6 bars 


Porter . 




. 1 csk 


Cir. saws 


. lbx 


Butts . 




. 132 


Perfumery 


. 1 cs 


Cheese . 




• 1 pkg 


Coal . 


97| tons 


Bricks . 




. 8M 


Com. bricks . 


. 2M 


Sherry . 




89 csks 


Dry goods 


. 1 cs 


Whisky 




15 qr. csks 


Blue . 


1 parcel 


Whisky 




49 qr. csks 






Total m 


alue 




. #27,671 9, 





TO SANDWICH ISLANDS. 



Coal . . . .108 tons 

Iron tanks . . . 8 

Porter and ale, 117 csks 10 hhds 

and 261 cs 

Cider 20 cs 

Syrup 10 cs 



Spirits . 


. 22 qr. cks 


Do. 


14 pkgs 


Champagne . 


6 bskts 


Wines . 


. 6cs 


Brandy . 


. 1 cs 


Bitters . 


. 5 cs 1 hhd 



EXPORTS. 



115 



Potatoes £ 

Merchandise ... 9 bales 

Dry goods and merchandise . 38 cs 

Blankets ... 10 bales 

Stationery . . . 1 cs 
Iron . . 229 bars, 71 bdls 
Total value 



Steel , 
Oils 

Biscuits 
Hams , 
Pig iron 



. 2 bxs 
10 bbls and 10 cs 
. 2cs 
25 bbls 
10 tons 



#17,115 00 



TO CALIFORNIA. 

[Compiled from the books of the United States Consulate.] 



Skins, 139 marten . 

Dry goods, 6 cs 

Wool, hides, and skins . 

Cranberries, 114 pk 

Mink skins, 776; mar- 
tens, 202 . 

Rope, 1 bale; mirrors, 
pins, comforters . 

Skins, marten, mink, and 
Beaver 

Deer skins, 6 bales 

Yams, 50 baskets; melon 
seeds, 3 do. 

Total value 



# 

417 


00 


2620 


55 


264 


14 


1162 


00 


1400 


10 


676 


53 


7640 


35 


112 


50 


38 


40 



Bullock hides, 19; calf 

hds, 7; deer skins, 5 

bales. ... Ill 51 
Shirts and beaver hats, 

lcs . . . . 303 50 
Skins, marten, 153 ; 

mink, 222 . . . 630 20 
Polished shells, 1 cs . 100 00 
Japanese cabinet, 1 . 45 00 
Green hides, 80 . . 127 50 
Fish, 12 hf bbls . . 41 90 



#15,690 18 



TO OREGON. 



Assorted merchandise . 5111 80 
Sugar, 12,960 lbs. . . 1134 24 
Total value 



Pig iron, 2 tons 



#6,388 04 



92 00 



TO WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 



Iron boiler plates and 

rivets 
Iron .... 
Sacks .... 
Ale and porter, 2 cs 
Hardware and castings . 
Bricks, 15 M . 
Am. Brandy, 2 bbls and 

4 cs . 
Gin ... 

Total value 



# 

276 


29 


28 


62 


30 


00 


32 


25 


151 


91 


105 


00 


140 


38 


172 


38 



Iron castings . 




48 


46 


Sugar . 




155 


46 


Iron, sugar, and grind- 






stone fixtures 




30 


76 


Castings, 1061 lbs. 




87 


38 


Iron bars, 98 . 




350 


90 


English merchandise 




1776 


15 


Groceries, 8 pkgs . 




117 


13 


English hardware . 




129 


60 


Shingles, 11,000 . 




57 


00 


#3,680 


67 







116 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 



To Sitka 27,671 95 

To Sandwich Islands 17,115 00 

To California 15,690 18 

To Oregon 6,388 04 

To Washington Territory .... 3,680 67 

Grand total #70,585 84 

This sum is exclusive of large exports to British Columbia. 
For the quarter ending June 1864, goods were sent from 
Victoria to New Westminster to the value of #606,535 
lie. 

Were British capitalists alive to the commanding geo- 
graphical position of Victoria as a free port in ' relation 
to the neighbouring Coast of Western America on the 
one side of the Pacific and to China and Japan on the 
other, I venture to believe that they could, in a short 
period, render this city a worthy rival of San Francisco. 
Persons accustomed to judge by the present infancy of 
Victoria will probably be disposed to smile at so bold an 
assertion. But it will not surprise those who have given 
attention to principles affecting the growth of commercial 
centres should this prediction be accomplished within the 
present generation. 

There are many articles, it is well known, in which the 
United States cannot compete successfully with England, 
in consequence of the higher price of labour and other 
circumstances in the former country. Large and suitable 
assortments of such goods stored in great warehouses at 
Victoria would secure a ready sale to wholesale and retail 
dealers in Washington territory, Oregon, California, and 
the various ports on the Mexican seaboard. 

The only houses established hitherto among us, capable 
of carrying on business on the extensive scale these 
remarks propose, are the Hudson's Bay Company, and 
perhaps two others. This end cannot be achieved by mere 



ITS CAPABILITIES. 117 

commission agents, who have little interest in furnishing 
the class of merchandise precisely suitable to foreign 
markets south of Vancouver Island ; their chief concern 
being to make storage and commission out of consign- 
ments. Large quantities of goods sent for sale on com- 
mission, but assorted in England without judgment, are 
here, as in other foreign parts, often sacrificed at auction. 
There are, however, commission firms in Victoria, not a 
few, who might be depended upon for advising their 
English correspondents conscientiously, as to the sort of 
goods that would be salable. 

But the houses required for carrying out the high com- 
mercial enterprise now advocated ought to be of a 
primary character. Their stocks should be purchased 
direct from British manufacturers by buyers who possess a 
thorough knowledge of the wants of the markets on the 
coast. When these establishments are prepared to com- 
mence operations, let them be inaugurated by exten- 
sive trade sales duly advertised beforehand throughout 
the countries stretching southward. Agents, as already 
suggested, should be appointed to travel through the 
principal centres in those countries, and, in due course, 
vast and lucrative custom is certain to be attracted. The 
results at first might be comparatively slow, but in the 
end they would satisfy the most ambitious and sanguine 
wishes. 

The grounds on which these statements rest have only 
to be stated to meet with acceptance. Many traders in 
the places just mentioned are obliged to have supplies of 
such English manufactures as cotton and woollen fabrics, 
hardware, spirits, ales, &c. French articles, too numerous 
to specify, are also in requisition by them. Their orders 
are mostly sent to agents in New York, as they are not 
themselves in general sufficiently known in Europe to be 



118 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

able to form a connection in that quarter. This indirect 
method of importation necessitates an allowance of profit 
or commission to New York houses with expense 
attending wharfage, drayage, and storage in that city. 
To these charges must be added the cost of extra freight 
in trans-shipment from New York to San Franciso or 
some other point on the Pacific. Much the greater part 
of these items merchants who can import direct from 
Europe are able to save. But it can be shown that there 
are costs and inconveniences more embarrassing still upon 
even direct shipments from England to San Francisco, 
for example, which would be immediately avoided by 
buyers in that city transferring their purchases of British 
and Erench merchandise to the great wholesale ware- 
houses that are being called into existence in Victoria. 

The merchants of San Francisco that may be in a position 
to obtain wares direct from Europe are compelled when 
getting shipments to order larger supplies than are needed 
to meet present demands. Packages not required for instant 
use must lie in bond to escape the immediate payment of 
customs' duties upon them. Besides the expense of 
bonded storage annoyance is sustained from free access to 
the goods being denied while in bond. There is yet a 
worse feature of the case. According to existing customs' 
regulations in California, duty must be paid upon all goods 
in bond within three months of their being deposited in the 
bonded warehouse, whether they be taken out or not Now 
consider the incalculable loss thus suffered. 

The average rate of interest on money in California and 
adjacent countries ranges from one and a half to two and a 
half per cent per month. Should a merchant under these 
circumstances have certain small orders to execute — say 
to the extent of one third of a heavy package of British 
or French articles — he can only meet these orders by 



DEPOT FOR EUROPEAN GOODS. 119 

paying duty on the entire package so as to relieve it from 
bond. Then it may be months before the remainder of 
that package is disposed of. So a still longer period may 
elapse before the sale of all his imported stocks be effected, 
upon which duty has to be paid three months subsequently 
to their being conveyed from the ship to the bonded store. 
While the duty-paid goods are unsold he loses at the very 
least the amount of interest which the sum laid out in 
customs' duties would have brought him. 

But in yet another way does the Californian merchant 
work at a disadvantage in importing direct from England 
on the supposition of a British free port being at hand to 
supply him with goods in broken or unbroken packages 
as he may desire. Since exporters in England have suffered 
so mischievously from the fluctuations of the markets 
in gold countries within the last fourteen years, large 
advances in most cases, have to be made upon the invoice 
before goods are shipped. A great part of the goods 
thus covered may lie upon the hands of the California 
importer unremunerative, for many months after arrival, 
and may occasionally have to be sold at a loss owing to a 
period of glut in the market. Could the importer devise 
some expedient by which he might profitably employ the 
capital he must forfeit the use of in this manner during the 
interval between his sending orders to England and 
realising returns upon the stock imported, he surely would 
gratefully avail himself of such an advantage. That 
expedient is gained by a large British emporium being 
brought so near that his orders could be executed three 
weeks after being despatched, instead of as at present 
his patience being tried by a delay of eight or ten months 
from date of order to Europe. Buying in Victoria, he 
would not require to import a heavier stock than his 
custom immediately demanded ; he would save the time of 



120 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

a tedious voyage round the Horn; he would escape the 
restrictions and expense of the bonded warehouse ; he woidd 
likewise save the interest now lost to him on goods while 
undisposed of. What merchant on the American side 
of the boundary contiguous to us would not rejoice in 
the advantage held out by such an important commercial 
centre as Victoria might be made with an intelligent 
employment of British capital and enterprise ? 

But it may be objected : ' If Calif ornian merchants can 
ill afford to lose heavy interest on invoice advances and 
customs' duties entailed upon them by the existing condi- 
tion of things, how should English capitalists afford to hold 
immense stocks, awaiting purchase for an indefinite period 
in Victoria ? They too would be losers to the extent of, 
at least, interest on the value of their goods while unsold.' 
True : but, by supposition, the firms being gradually 
originated on the present theory are composed of British 
shareholders, and the whole secret of their being able 
to carry on such a business as has been alluded to, 
consists simply in the difference between 5 per cent 
per annum, the average rate of interest in England, 
and 1^ or 2\ per cent per month, which money is 
worth in gold-producing countries on the North Pacific. 
So that such companies as have been named could better 
afford to await returns for a twelvemonth, than could the 
American or other merchant working with Calif ornian 
capital to lie out of his money for three months. There 
is unquestionable foundation for the conviction that com- 
panies embarking in the investment I have described 
would, in half a dozen years, find it yield immense divi- 
dends. A paid up capital to each company of 200,000/. 
would be ample to start with. When the colonies of 
Vancouver Island and British Columbia shall have 
awakened in England the attention to which they are 



HIGH TAEIFF IN SAN FRANCISCO. 121 

justly entitled, many such large mercantile partnerships 
will be established in Victoria. 

In reference to the beneficial effect upon the trade of 
Victoria of the increasing Customs' restrictions in San Fran- 
cisco, a French newspaper, ' L'Echo du Pacific,' of October 
30, 1861, remarks as follows : — 

Heretofore goods might remain in bond three years without 
paying duties ; now the term is restricted to three months, and 
as consignees are not always disposed to pay the large amount of 
duties they would be called upon to advance, the above restrictive 
measure will have the effect of throwing this business into the 
hands of parties in some other -place where the laws are more 
liberal. Commerce has neither country nor affections ; all it 
wants is freedom. If that is taken from it in one place, it will 
seek it in another. For this reason it would appear that 
Victoria, a free port, will profit by what San Francisco will 
lose, as the shipper will find there the advantages which are 
refused to him here, and there ( Victoria) will be the depot of 
the Pacific Coast 

There are few countries offering such facilities in the 
matter of return cargoes as Vancouver Island does. 
Statistics of our resources, to be given later on, will show 
how valuable are the timber and fish with which our 
forests and rivers respectively abound, for this purpose. 

Large commercial firms projecting those grand enter- 
prises, for the organisation of which their situation in 
Victoria would be favourable, should have sawmills and 
fisheries as complementary auxiliaries in the expansion of 
their business. 

Our erect and gigantic pines, growing in both these 
colonies in exhaustless profusion, enables a mercantile 
company to build its own ships cheaply.* Again, the 

* Notwithstanding the high price of skilled labour in these places, I am 
informed by an experienced resident shipbuilder that vessels can be built in 
the island for one third less than in England, from the inexpensiveness of 
building materials, 



122 



VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 



demand for timber in China advances at a marvellous rate, 
being required for the erection of houses, repairing and 
building of steamers and sailing vessels. The extent to 
which the Yangtse and Amoor Eivers and the Chinese coast 
generally are navigated, and the promise given of the 
magnitude which trade is destined to reach in that direc- 
tion, would seem incredible to one unacquainted with the 
subject. The havoc caused periodically to shipping by 
the typhoon calls for a steady supply of spars. The 
influx of Europeans to cities on the coast and in the inte- 
rior of China occasions the extensive building of new 
dwellings, and creates an increasing market for the con- 
sumption of sawn timber. The Chinese themselves may 
be supposed to be becoming assimilated, however slowly, 
to European habits of living. From this cause also will 
trade receive a vigorous impulse. 

When an article of European or American production 
is favourably introduced in China, the social and imitative 
character of the people secures for it an augmenting and 
endless popularity. This is rendered evident by refer- 
ence to the statistics of the two exports of flour and 
lumber (timber) sent from San Francisco. Not to speak 
of the latter article, the Chinese (apart from European 
residents in China) having acquired a taste for the former, 
the imagination is overwhelmed in attempting to conceive 
how immense will be the trade between the opposite 
coasts of the Pacific, in the future years, from the export 
of flour alone, to meet the wants of four hundred mil- 
lions. 



Flour (barrels) . 
Lumber (feet) 


18G1 


18G2 


18G3 


10,524 

868,982 


21,451 
2,659,190 


50,955 
2,709,733 



FACILITIES FOR RETURN CARGOES. 123 

San Francisco houses have an undoubted advantage 
over us in the article of flour as an export, and in this we 
can never compete with them. But the vessels which 
convey lumber from American consigners to China are 
obliged to come up in ballast from San Francisco to load in 
Puget Sound — a distance of 800 miles, unless they happen 
to procure freight for Victoria. This involves a great deal 
of trouble and outlay to be sustained for the sole object 
of loading at the sawmills. No such difficulty would 
have to be borne by the Victoria exporter of lumber, for 
his cargo is close at hand. 

It will be perceived therefore that a large Victoria house, 
having the important accessory referred to, would gain on 
the freight, the vessel having been built by themselves, 
and being their own property. They would gain on the 
cargo, which would in this case be shipped at their own 
mills. A further gain would accrue on the supposition of 
the return cargo, consisting of silk, rice, preserves, &c, 
being paid for in the way of barter. The vessel, having 
thus changed one cargo for another in China, could then 
proceed to England and bring out to Vancouver Island 
European goods adapted for this market. 

Similar advantages will be eventually derived from our 
exports in opening up a trade with Japan* when that 

* A letter from Japan to the New York Journal of Commerce says: — 
' The trade between England and Japan has doubled in the first six months 
of the year 1863 compared with the year 1862, despite all the embarrass- 
ments suffered ; the future prospect is considered exceedingly hopeful. The 
return of trade at the single port of Kanagawa for the year gives an aggre- 
gate of seventy-four foreign arrivals against thirty-three one year ago, and a 
tonnage of 25,000 instead of 15,000. The value of goods imported in the 
same time at Kanagawa exceeds $500,000. Then it should be observed 
that the Japanese readily ascertain what commodities are most in demand 
for export, and at once address themselves to the work of producing them. 
The growth of silk, for example, so highly prized on account of its fine 
quality, especially when the supplies from Italy and France are partially cut 



124 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

country shall have somewhat relaxed its traditional exclu- 
siveness. Even if our cargoes of timber and fish were not 
salable in Japan at present, it would amply repay a vessel, 
could she not secure a freight thither from China, to run up 
and load for England. The rich and delicate manufactures 
of Japan would all find a ready sale in the parent country. 
Besides boxes of camphor- wood, baskets of rattan, sets 
of drawers, jewelry caskets, tea and coffee services, vases, 
and every sort of lacquered work, we have occasional ar- 
rivals on our coast, from that comparatively sealed country, 
of isinglass, rice, sweet potatoes, peas, leaf tobacco, and 
rapeseed oil. The last named of those articles is in 
general use in Paris for lamps. Many other products will 
yet be forthcoming from Japan, which merchants in Vic- 
toria with the appliances proposed may obtain for ship- 
ment to Europe on favourable terms, so that return cargoes 
of British and French goods may be advantageously 
brought to Victoria for wholesale export. 

Turning from China and Japan, where our salmon, cod, 
halibut, and smelt might also be introduced, Mexico and 
the other Eoman Catholic countries, as far as Cape Horn, 
furnish an inviting market for both our lumber and 
fish. Australia and New Zealand are in the same posi- 
tion. All these countries can be supplied more reasonably 
and expeditiously with the two articles of exports under 
consideration from us than from the Atlantic. 

As for Australia, it is well known that a premium has 
long been offered by the Government to anyone who 

off, has yielded a surplus for export from Japan d uring the present season to 
the value of nearly 2,500,000^. sterling. So of cotton. In 1862 the crop 
yielded nothing for export, hut this year's contribution to the manufacturers 
of Europe already amounts to about 9,000 bales. The fact to be noticed is 
that, notwithstanding the declared hostility of the Japanese Government to 
foreign traffic or intercourse, the people at large eagerly avail themselves of 
the opportunity to profit by the exchange of merchandise for gold.' 



EETUEN CARGOES. 125 

should succeed in introducing a live salmon into the 
country ; and not until the mode of artificial spawning 
was discovered could imported salmon exist there. At 
length, in May last year, the birth of the first salmon was 
announced.* 

New Zealand is not bountifully supplied with timber 
for building purposes, and cargoes of that material are 
being shipped from our neighbourhood to that colony. 

The commercial relations of Vancouver Island to the 
several countries enumerated, arising out of the diversity 
of their respective resources, are pointed out as illustra- 
tive of the numerous facilities afforded to establishments 
in Victoria for return cargoes to intermediate destinations 
between this colony and England, and the consequent 
opportunity of procuring goods for the supply of the 
market on the north-west coast on most favourable con- 

* The following lines on this event appeared in an Australian paper : — 

Auspicious great event 

To write an epigram on — 
Australia news has sent 

About her first-born salmon ! 

The earliest of his kind 

That Austral waters swam on, 
Let's hope he'll leave behind 

A mighty race of salmon. 

The digger, when he hears, 

The news expends a dram on— 
The stockman gives three cheers 

To hail the first-born salmon. 

And I confess that I — 

This subject while I am on— 
Don't mean to keep it dry — 

Let's wet the little salmon. 



So now, here goes ! The toast 
We'll have a glass of ' cham 

Long may Australia boast 
The plenty of her salmon ! 



on 



126 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

ditions. Firms saving on all sides, on the principle here 
set forth, must eventually compel buyers on the coast 
to replenish their stocks of European and, in part, Asiatic 
goods from their warehouses. Our wide-spread copper 
lodes, too, will, in course of time — like the Burra-Burra 
mines of Adelaide — without doubt furnish a valuable 
article of export to Great Britain, in the way of return 
cargo. 

The following remarks of the late able correspondent 
of the ' Alta California,' published some years ago, exem- 
plify American sentiment in regard to the prospects of 
Victoria as a probable rival of the city of San Francisco : 

That England has great purposes to effect in this part of the 
world, is no doubt true ; that she has grand projects on foot, 
looking to a union of her North American Colonies, and the 
opening of a highway from ocean to ocean, she does not seek 
to disguise. That these new settlements are yet to become com- 
petitors for the trade of the East, if not the commercial supre- 
macy of the Pacific, it were useless to den}^ Entrepots are 
soon to spring up on these hitherto undisturbed waters ; there 
will be shipyards and fisheries, and to these lands will a nume- 
rous people go to dwell and to mine beyond a peradventure. 
. . . But however we may regard the advent of England upon our 
shores, or whatever estimate we may set on the value of her 
possessions in this quarter, one thing is certain, we have now 
got to meet her on this side the globe as we have met her on 
the other; and encountering her enterprise and capital, her 
practical patient industry and persistence of purpose, dispute 
with her for the trade of the East and the empire of the seas. 

There are other circumstances that may be briefly 
stated here bearing on the prospects of Victoria as a free 
port. 

The augmenting population of Oregon and Washington 
territory multiplies the number of consumers of goods 
imported into those parts from our city. In 1850 the 



ITS RELATION TO ESQUIMALT. 127 

census shows the inhabitants of Oregon to be 13,000, and 
of the adjacent territory to be only 1,200. There are 
now between 80,000 and 90,000 in the former State, and 
16,000 in Washington territory. When the iron-road 
via Utah is constructed, it is proposed to make a branch 
line from Walla-Walla to Seattle or Olympia on Puget 
Sound. This latter section of railway, when formed, will 
convey the bulk of the produce to the ocean from the 
region through which it passes by the Straits of Fuca, 
except, perhaps, the crops raised on the banks of the 
Columbia and near the mouth of the Willamette rivers. 
It is inconceivable how large a population these changes 
will bring upon the shores of the Sound, and how exten- 
sive the tide of commerce they will attract to Victoria. 

Another fact foretokening the prospective importance 
of that city is, that it is but four miles distant from the 
capacious harbour of Esquimalt — the rendezvous of H.M. 
Pacific squadron. It was stated in the ' Times ' of March 
15, 1860, that it was . the intention of the Imperial 
Government to elevate that, place into the naval depot 
for the Pacific. Nor could any selection be better. It is 
the only convenient British place of anchorage in that 
ocean, to which H.M. ships can repair to coal, refit, pro- 
vision, and concentrate for war. From this point our 
fleets can have a more complete command of that ocean, 
and proceed more readily to any part of it, than if Hong- 
kong or Australia were headquarters. 

In the ' Times ' of June 25, 1860, the argument in favour 
of Burrard Inlet, near New Westminster, as a naval depot, 
is effectually exploded by the letter of a correspondent : 

If all that is required for a naval station be so much water 
for so many ships to float and anchor in, and so many acres of 
land for docks in a wilderness, these essentials are obtainable in 



128 VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 

Burrard Inlet. . . . But as the naval station placed in that 
locality involves the navigation of a portion of the Straits of 
Fuca, of the whole of Canal de Haro (under the guns of the 
American batteries if San Juan be given up), together with the 
crossing of the Grulf of Georgia, often a tempestuous sea, as 
well as the other waters which intervene between Burrard Inlet 
and Esquimalt and the ocean, all of which navigation would be 
an addition to a voyage long enough already, and which would 
be avoided by leaving the squadron to rendezvous at Esquimalt 
where the ships now lie, most competent judges prefer Esqui- 
malt for the headquarters of the squadron. Esquimalt is near 
the ocean, easily accessible by day and night, now that a light- 
house is placed at its entrance. . . . Besides these conveniences, 
it possesses great facilities for fortifications over every other 
harbour in the Pacific Ocean. It could be made impregnable 
at less cost than any other harbour in these seas could be 
rendered partially secure ; and it is well situated for supplying 
ships to defend the entrance into the Straits of Fuca — a measure 
to the accomplishment of which 6 Port San Juan,' situated on 
Vancouver Island, near the entrance, possesses important facili- 
ties in having a harbour three miles long, and capable of 
anchoring a fleet in safety. From this port one or two ships 
could blockade the entrance and make Fuca Straits a British 
lake, while Esquimalt is close at hand to afford supplies and all 
necessary assistance. ... At Victoria, the men-of-war get all 
they want. . . . Vancouver Island will be the point of attack, 
if an attack is made on one of these colonies by any hos- 
tile power, as it must be secured to make the Continent 
tenable if taken. So that if Burrard Inlet were made the 
naval station, it would involve this anomaly — that while the 
head-quarters were over there, the ships would always be 
stationed here. The naval station must be at Esquimalt. 

The question, moreover, has of late been occupying the 
attention of the Admiralty as to the most eligible location 
for building a sanitarium for the accommodation of in- 
valided naval men. Sydney, the Cape Colony, and other 
positions, have been under consideration for this object. 



PROPOSED SANITARIUM. 129 

But none appear to combine so many advantages as the. 
vicinity of Victoria and Esquimalt. The mildness of the 
temperature, the beauty of the scenery, and the very low 
proportion of mortality in the vessels on the station, are 
recommendations of this locality which cannot fail to have 
weight with the Government. 

On this vital question, the opinion of an experienced 
naval surgeon is decisive. Dr. Kattray, E.N., says : — 

The hospital accommodation on this station (the Pacific) has 
long been unsatisfactory; and Valparaiso, the former head- 
quarters of the Pacific fleet, and Callao, were the only ports to 
which invalids might be sent for treatment, or sickly ships be 
transferred to recruit the health of their crews. . . . The con- 
venience of ample hospital accommodation at the head-quarters 
of the squadron, and on British soil, and in a climate where 
salubrity is unsurpassed on the entire station, is therefore 
evident. Esquimalt thus supplies a want long felt on this 
station. 

The unhealthiness of the climate of China, and the sickness 
and mortality which usually prevail in the China fleet, when 
contrasted with the great salubrity of Vancouver Island and the 
fineness of its climate, make it a question of great importance 
whether or not Esquimalt — with its hospital accommodation, its 
convenience as a naval harbour, and its comparative proximity 
to China, with which communications both naval and mercantile, 
will soon be more frequent than at present — might not become 
the recruiting station and sanitarium for the China as well as 
for the Pacific squadron ; and whether the healthy climate of 
the Eastern Ocean of the North Pacific might not be made 
available to counteract the unhealthy influence of that of its 
western coast. 

The heavy sick-lists of ships stationed along the coast of China, 
the large percentage of invalids sent home, and the great mor- 
tality, are often unequalled, even on the once so sickly and still 
much dreaded coast of Africa. The following table will con- 
trast the large sick-lists of ships on that station with those of 
Esquimalt, 

X 



130 



VICTORIA AS A FREE PORT. 



Ship. 


Average 

sick-list. 


Average 
crew. 


Percentage 
of sick. 


H.M.S. Nankin (50), China Station, 1855- 
1858 

H.M.S. Topaze (51), Esquimalt, Vancou- 
ver Island, 1860-1861 .... 


42 
13f 


443 

482 


9i 



Dr. Eattray proceeds to show that out of an average 
crew of 443 men, 39 (or 1 in 11) died of dysentery, diar- 
rhoea, and periodic fevers ; 64 (or 1 in 7) were invalided ; 
and 187 (or 1 in 2 J) were sent to the hospital from the 
same causes. In all 290, or 65^ per cent of the entire 
crew, either lost their lives or were disabled from malig- 
nant disease. Now, surely there is urgent need for de- 
vising means to reduce this mortality, and avoid much 
of this suffering. The ' ship ' hospital at Hongkong has 
many disadvantages. It is badly ventilated, and confines 
those who remain for treatment in the very focus and 
centre of an unhealthy climate, thereby increasing mor- 
tality, and retarding the cure of patients. By occasional 
visits to Vancouver Island, the efficiency of crews would 
be better preserved and sickness in a great degree pre- 
vented. This arrangement, when fully carried out, will 
exercise a profitable influence on the trade of Victoria. 



131 



CHAPTEE V. 

GENERAL RESOUECES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Timber : Exports of this Article — Profits realised on it — Advantages over 
Canada and New Brunswick — Timber more remunerative to the common 
Carrier than Gold — Trade in Export of Railway Sleepers — Prices ^of 
Spars, Masts, &c. Coal : Mines at Nanaimo — Immense Consumption of 
Coal on the Coast — Chemical Comparison of Vancouver Island Coal 
with other Varieties— Imports of Coal to San Francisco — Prices — Thick- 
ness of Seam — Conveniences for Loading — Vancouver Island Pioneer Coal- 
mining Company — Quantities shipped from Nanaimo — Report of First 
Annual Meeting of Directors — Other Coal Companies. Copper : Queen 
Charlotte Island Mine — Inspection of a Vein— Want of British Capital 
to develop this Source of Wealth effectually. Magnetic Iron Ore- 
Limestone — Sandstone— Blue Marble — Blue Clay. Gold: First 
found in Queen Charlotte Island — Gold Stream — Gold discovered at 
Sooke — General Character of the Region — * Prospects ' obtained — Mining 
' Claims 'and ' Yields.' Fisheries: Herring — Hoolakan— Salmon — Trout 
— Sturgeon — Halibut — Haddock — Rock — Whales — Walrus — Foreign 
Markets to be Supplied. 

TIMBER. 

It is now universally admitted that Vancouver Island and 

British Columbia produce the best qualities of timber to 

be found in the world. The following table shows the 

principal varieties : — 

Popular Names. Scientific Names. 

The Douglas Pine or Oregon Red Pine . Abies Douglassii. 

Spruce Fir Abies Menziesii. 

Yellow Fir Abies grandis. 

Balsam Fir Abies balsamifera. 

Hemlock Spruce Abies canadensis. 

k 2 



132 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Wild Cherry Cerasus mollis. 

White Pine or Weymouth Pine . . Pinus Strobus. 

Yellow Pine Pinus ponderosa. 

Cedar — the Oregon Cedar . . . Thuja gigantea. 

Yellow Cypress . Cupressus nutkatensis. 

Arbor Vitse . . . . . . Thuja plicata. 

Yew Taxus brevifolia. 

The Oak Quercus Garryana. 

The white, or broad-leaved Maple . . Acer macrophyllum. 

Vine-leaved Maple . . . . . Acer circinatum. 

The Oregon Alder . . . . . Alnus oregona. 

Oregon Dogwood Cornus Nuttallii. 

Arbutus Arbutus Menziesii. 

Of these the wood that has chief economic value is the 
Douglas pine. This tree is in great demand for spars ; and 
for strength, lightness, elasticity, erectness, beauty of grain, 
and height, it cannot be surpassed. The bark at the 
base of the tree, and for some distance up, is often a foot 
thick. The colour of the wood, which depends usually 
upon its age and the situation where it is grown, is in 
general yellow, but sometimes reddish. 

A spar of this description, more than 200 feet high, is 
erected in Kew Gardens, London, and sections cut from 
a tree 309 feet long were sent to England for the Inter- 
national Exhibition of 1862. 

A careful examination was made of one of these sec- 
tions, to ascertain the tree's age and rate of growth. 
From the result, which was published in the ' Gardener's 
Chronicle,' it appears that : 

The diameter is 6 feet, viz. : — 34 inches on one side, 38 on 

the other. Its rate of growth on the 34-inch side has been as 

follows : — 

The first 2 inches across were made in 7 years. 



)i 


secuiiu 


?> 


» 


„ y 


n 


)) 


third 


)) 


}> 


„ 12 


)> 


V 


fourth 


» 


j> 


„ 19 


» 


1> 


fifth 


V 


)) 


n 17 


17 


)> 


sixth 


» 


» 


„ 23 


U 


V 


seventh 


)> 


V 


„ 16 


w 



TIMBEE. 133 

The eighth 2 inches across were made in 17 years. 

„ ninth „ „ „ 14 „ 

„ tenth „ „ „ 18 „ 

„ eleventh „ „ „ 24 „ 

, ; twelfth „ „ „ 21 „ 

M thirteenth „ „ „ 24 „ 

„ fourteenth „ „ „ 24 „ 

v fifteenth „ „ „ 31 „ 

„ sixteenth „ ,, „ 36 „ 

„ seventeenth „ „ v 42 „ 

Or 34 inches in semidiameter in 354 years. 

It is as well to remark that this British Columbian fir, 
although three centuries and a half old, and although for the 
last forty- two years it increased little more than 1-1 Oth of an 
inch in diameter yearly, is perfectly sound to the heart Foresters 
will understand the importance of this fact.* 

Little or nothing was known of this tree till about 37 
years ago, when it was brought into notice by the Horti- 
cultural Society, which was favoured with seeds from it 
by the eminent collector whose name it bears. The cul- 
tivation of it has been attempted in Great Britain, where 
a congenial temperature gives encouragement to hope that 
it will succeed. 

Dr. Lindley informed the gentleman from whose work 
the above particulars have been quoted, that he had had two 
planks of this wood, 20 feet long each, in one of the rooms 
of his house, where there was constantly a fire, since 
1827, and that neither of them had warped or shrunk in 
the least since they had been placed there. 

Another important testimony to the high character of 
masts made of Douglas pine is derived form M. du Per- 
ron, a leading engineer of the French dockyard in Toulon. 
A comparison was instituted by him between the flexibility, 
resistance, and density of spars from Eiga and of those from 
this colony. 

* Mayne, p. 410, 



134 GENEEAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 

The principal quality of these woods is a flexibility and a 
tenacity of fibre rarely met with in trees so aged ; they may be 
bent and twisted several times in a contrary direction without 
breaking. Several poles of the greatest length, having the end at 
the foot and the top of the tree cut off, were tried, compara- 
tively, with poles of the same dimensions, cut from a Kiga spar 
of first class, and the following results were found : — 

Vancouver Island. Riga Pine. 

Maximum decree of bending before | Q 

rupture at the foot ... J 
At the bead 019 016 

022~ ~0 022~ 

Charge of rupture (per centimetres) "1 qqv 75 91 %■ oo 

squared at the foot . . .J 
At the head 16 11 19 68 

"19 93 20 23~ 

Density of the wood at the foot of 1 n rQn n ,_ 

the tree J U Wb U 726 

Density at the head ... 478 532 

"0 557 629" 

The experiments give a mean almost identical for the bending 
and breaking of the two kinds of wood, while the density differs 
notably to the advantage of the Vancouver wood. 

The only question still undecided is that of durability. The 
masts and spars of Vancouver are woods rare and exceptional 
for dimensions and superior qualities, strength, lightness, absence 
of knots and other grave vices. — Toulon, September 21, 1860. 

As yet, there is only one firm in the island (Anderson 
and Co.) that has been engaged in the export of timber 
npon a scale commensurate with the importance of this 
trade and the inexhaustible nature of this department of 
our resources. With the neighbouring coast of the sister 
colony, Vancouver Island offers facilities for the establish- 
ment of numberless companies of this character. The 
house referred to had been practically conversant with 
the lucrative nature of the business for many years before 



TIMBEE EXPORTS. 



135 



building their own saw-mills, having been accustomed to 
send profitable shipments of timber from Puget Sound to 
various foreign ports. They only commenced operations 
at Barclay Sound in 1861, and the extent to which they 
have supplied vessels with return cargoes, plainly indicates 
how ripe is the field for the introduction of vigorous 
competition. 

Comparative Statement of Exports of Lumber, &c, from 
Alberni Mills, during the years 1862 and 1863. 



Description 


1862 


1863 


Increase 


Sawn Lumber (No. of feet) . 

Spars 

Salt Fish (barrels) . 
Fish Oil „ . 
Skins and Furs (packages) 


7,490,000 

990 

370 

193 

11 


11,273,000 

1,300 

470 

239 

33 


3,783,000 

400 

100 

46 

22 



The shipments of lumber from Alberni, coastwise, amounted in 1863 
to 1,000,000 feet, and were conveyed to Victoria in the steamer ' Thames/ 
and schooners ' Alberni ' and ' Meg Merrilies ; ' the first making during the 
year five trips, the second eight, and the third one. 

Besides supplying the French, Spanish, and Sardinian 
Government dockyards with spars, they are doing a large 
trade in sawn lumber for building purposes. I notice 
among the destinations to which they have sent this freight, 
Callao, Honolulu, Sydney, London, Coquimbo, Adelaide, 
Victoria, Shanghai, Batavia, Lima, Melbourne, Hongkong, 
Otago, Valparaiso, Manilla, Italy, &c. 

One or two other small firms carry on an increasing- 
trade in lumber, but their exports are chiefly coastwise. 

Lumber received Coashvise for Consumption in Victoria, 
Vancouver Lsland, during the year 1863. 

Feet. 

From Alberni Mills (Anderson & Co.) . . 1,000,000 
„ Cowichan Mill (W. P. Sayward) . . 1,666,000 
„ Sooke Mill (Michael Muir) . . . 100,000 

Total number of feet . . . 2,766,000 



136 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

A considerable number of saw-mills have been at work 
in Puget Sound for ten or fifteen years, and in every in- 
stance in which proper management has been observed 
the proprietors have, in course of time, realised princely 
fortunes. The Fort Gamble and Utsalady companies started 
with but little capital, and the property of the one is said 
to be now over $1,000,000. A partner of the other I know 
personally, and can testify that the returns of his firm have 
been very great. One of these firms purchased a vessel, 
second-hand, some time ago, capable of containing a 
million feet of lumber, and I am informed that she cleared 
herself in one trip. Shippers have assured me that 100 
per cent has often been realised by them upon cargoes 
to China. The captain of a British vessel once stated in 
my hearing that, having discharged his freight from Eng- 
land in Victoria, he loaded his ship with sawn lumber in 
the vicinity of the colony at a cost of from 21. Is. to 
21. 10s. per 1,000 feet, and sold it in Foochow, after a 
voyage of two months, at from 13/. lis. 10<i. to 14/. Ids. id. 
per 1,000 feet. 

Merchants devoted to the lumber trade in the Pacific 
need be at no loss in acquiring an exact knowledge of the 
markets in that ocean. They have but to ascertain the 
proportion of vessels loading at the various saw-mills, 
bound for given destinations. Spars from the North- 
American, shores of the Pacific will always command a 
high price in Spain, France, and England,* and building- 
lumber need not fail of being readily and profitably dis- 
posed of in Australia, New Zealand, South America, China, 
and eventually Japan. 

The minds of immigrants hitherto attracted to the 
colony have been so absorbed in the pursuit of gold, and 

* It is probable that iron masts will now become more general for ocean 
steamers, but spars will continue to be required for sailing vessels. 



NEW BRUNSWICK AND CANADA. 137 

the merchants of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 
have directed their attention so exclusively to the business 
of general importation, that the valuable article of export 
with which these remarks are concerned has been signally 
lost sight of. Still, unless wealthy and enterprising com- 
panies enter briskly into this sort of exportation, it is 
hardly necessary to say that the balance of trade will be 
increasingly against the colony. 

Our advantages for going largely into the lumber trade, 
and especially into certain kinds of ship-building, are far 
beyond those by which New Brunswick is distinguished. 
Yet from timber, almost its sole exported product, that 
province has grown and flourished ; so that now it con- 
tains a population of 300,000 directly or indirectly sus- 
tained by the lumber traffic. How much more brilliant a 
career is open to Vancouver Island — of whose manifold 
resources this is but one — provided those latent elements 
that are capable of enriching the colony are not suffered 
to remain unproductive ? In Canada, logs and spars — 
exhausted in most instances near the banks of the St. 
Laurence — have to be rafted hundreds of miles down 
rivers and lakes, and through canals, before they can be 
brought to ports for shipment to distant countries. In 
New Brunswick, too, these products have to be rafted 
down the St. John, Miramichi, and other rivers. Then, 
from the thinning process to which forests in these Atlan- 
tic colonies have been subjected, the timber is obliged to 
be felled in winter, and hauled long distances to streams, 
whence it is floated to its final place of shipment on the 
breaking up of the ice in Spring. 

In the colonies of which I write, hundreds of spots 
might be selected where, for years to come, the necessity 
of rafting would be superseded, the timber being found 
near the water's edge and close to the ocean. This con- 



138 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

sideration more than counterbalances the higher rate of 
wages paid on the Pacific as compared with the Atlantic 
coast. 

; This is a branch of trade, at least in Vancouver Island, 
that requires not to pass through the early stages of 
infancy and childhood, but may with safety be ushered at 
once into full-grown stature ; and a large concern engaged 
in it would secure more prosperity than a small one. The 
reasons are obvious. Large associated capital could at 
present command extensive tracts of forest, convenient to 
points suitable for transportation. Such houses could avail 
themselves of the most efficient machinery for economizing 
labour. Their position would enable them to watch the 
markets surrounding the Pacific, to correspond with 
every timber-producing region, and learn the character 
and destination of every shipment ; also to obtain from 
foreign markets reports of consumption, stock in hand, 
and arrivals. 

Allusion has already been made to the saving to owners 
of saw-mills arising from the building their own ships. 
Timber being so bulky, employs a great amount of tonnage 
in transportation. In this respect it differs from gold, 
which is comparatively unremunerative to the common 
carrier. To transport the precious metal as freight may 
add 2 or 3 per cent, to its value. To carry timber a 
similar distance might enhance it 100 or 200 per cent, 
or even more The difference between its value in Van- 
couver Island and in the market to which it is sent is the 
cost and profit of carrying or freight An article so bulky, 
and yet in such great demand, will create a commerce of 
itself, which gold cannot do. The value of a dozen large 
cargoes of timber could in gold dust be conveyed in a 
single cart Moreover, whenever the demand for timber 



'RAILWAY SLEEPERS.' 139 

in the Chinese and other markets shall grow to such a 
degree that the freight of that commodity alone will pay 
to keep vessels solely engaged in the trade, we shall then 
be able to obtain return cargoes from Asia at freight so 
cheap that we shall be able to compete with San Fran- 
cisco for the supply of even Chinese goods to the entire 
west coast of the American continent. San Francisco has 
no article of export — not excepting flour — so bulky that 
she can procure, in return for it, the commercial advan- 
tages just specified. 

An excellent opening exists also for an export trade in 
6 railway sleepers ' to different parts. It would be difficult 
to mention a part of the world touched by civilization in 
which the ' locomotive ' is not in use. India, Australia, 
the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and several of the South 
American republics — not to speak of European countries 
— vie with each other in extending lines of railway. The 
day cannot be far distant when China and Japan will, in 
this respect, follow in the march of advanced nations. 
I know not where the railway companies in Asia, the 
opposite shores of the Pacific, and in our colonies of the 
southern hemisphere, could go to procure this part of rail- 
way appliance on more favourable terms than Vancouver 
Island. Large quantities of ' sleepers ' now imported to 
India are chiefly sent from England, after having been 
brought from Canada or the Baltic. To render them proof 
against the destructive action of a torrid sun, they are satu- 
rated with a preparation of creasote — a substance which 
happens to be largely inherent in the pines of our island. 

The following list of spars, masts, &c, with the prices 
attached, has been prepared expressly for my use, and I 
think it not unlikely that it may be found serviceable to 
those interested in this subject : — 



140 



GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



Prices of Masts and Spars. 
Diameter taken J from the butt in round or four-square 
spars ; diameter taken at the partners in eight-sided masts and 
spars. Partners in eight-sided masts and spars are supposed to 
be i from butt. 



Bound Spars. 

A, 5, & 6 inches diameter at 5 cents per running foot 
7,8, & 9 „ 8 „ 

10&11 „ 10 „ 

12 „ 18 „ 

13 „ 15 „ „ 

14 „ 17 „ 



Four-squared to the Partners. 
15 inches diameter at 22 cents per running foot 



16 


11 


29 


ii 


ii 


17 


11 


33 


ii 


ii 


18 


11 


38 


ii 


ii 


19 


11 


43 


ii 


ii 


20 


11 


48 


ii 


ii 


21 


11 


52 


ii 


ii 


22 


11 


57 


ii 


ii 


23 


11 


62 


ii 


ii 


24 


11 


64 


ii 


ii 



Four-squared to the partners, or eight-squared the whole 
length if required, at an additional charge of 10 per cent on the 
prices below : — 



25 inches diameter at 71 cents 


per running foot 


26 „ 74 


ii 


ii 


27 „ 81 


ii 


ii 


28- „ 85 


ii 


ii 


29 „ 95 


ii 


ii 


30 „ 1.05 


ii 


ii 


31 „ 1.14 


ii 


ii 


32 „ 1.23 


ii 


ii 


33 „ 1.33 


ii 


ii 


34 „ 1.42 


ii 


ii 


35 „ 1.54 


ii 


ii 


36 „ 1.66 


ii 


ii 



COAL. 141 

And any larger sizes in proportion to the above schedule. An 
addition of 10 per cent, to the above prices for eight-sided masts 
from 24 inches diameter and upwards. All the above spars to 
be delivered alongside the vessel. Length of spars, three to 
five feet for each inch in diameter at the partners, or longer if 
required. 

Ship and deck plank of Puget Sound fir, commonly called Douglas pine, 
of the following dimensions : — 3, 3|, 4, 4|, 5, 5^ inches and upward in 
thickness -, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 inches and upward in width ; 2& to 70 feet in 
length ; not to exceed 35 feet average, at $15 per M* superficial feet. 

Square timber 10 to 14 inches at $14 per M feeti 

„ „ 15 „ 18 „ $16 „ \ 25 to 80 feet long. 

„ 19 „ 22 „ $20 „ J 

not to average more than 35 feet in length. 

Ship beams, 17 by 17£ inches or larger, 35 to 45 feet long, at $16 per 
M feet. 

Assorted sawn lumber, consisting of scantling, joists, deals, boards, and 
square timber, from 16 to 40 feet long, at $12 per M feet. 

Tongued and grooved flooring, and surface clear lumber at $20 per 
M feet. 

COAL. 

This mineral is found extensively distributed in the 
North and South Pacific. Formosa Island, Labuan, Bor- 
neo, Australia, New Zealand, Chili, New Grenada, Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Washington Territory, British Columbia, 
and Vancouver Island, all contain coal formations of more 
or less value. 

The coal mines of Nanaimo, in the colony last named, 
however, happened to have been the first opened and 
worked in this section of the northern hemisphere ; and so 
much capital and labour having already been expended in 
their development, they naturally possess an advantage on 
this ground, even if on no other, over all coal-mines that 
have since been discovered on the coast. There are no 
colliery companies in the vicinity, up to the present, that 
have appliances for getting out this mineral, corresponding 

* M stands for thousand. 



142 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

to those of the Nanairno establishment. There is one firm 
on the American side of Fuca Straits, whose coal so far is 
superior. But the seam of the latter concern has not yet 
been fully tested. Still, what is known of it affords hopeful 
signs of its becoming valuable. 

The consumption of coal on the North Pacific is im- 
mense. San Francisco alone consumes probably upwards 
of 168,000 tons a year. In connection with the Panama 
Eailway, on both sides of the isthmus, it is estimated that 
more than seventy steamers ply. The American, Eussian, 
and British squadrons have also to be supplied. The 
western coasts of North and South America are said to 
produce only 10 per cent of the entire quantity consumed, 
and by far the most of that proportion comes from Chili, 
the yield of the mines on the northern coast being, up till 
now, too inconsiderable to receive notice. 

Coose Bay and Mount Diablo, with one or two other 
places in California, send a small contribution of coal to the 
San Francisco market. In Bellingham Bay, Washington 
Territory, there is a field consisting of four beds, cropping 
out on the coast, and dipphig north at an angle of 1 in 2. 
But none of the coal from these American seams is 
worthy to be compared with that produced in Vancouver 
Island. Anthracite coal of excellent quality has been 
found in Fuca Straits, as already described, and for the 
supply of Portland and San Francisco that coal has an ad- 
vantage over a foreign import, being admitted duty free. 
But all the mines on the coast hitherto worked, put toge- 
ther, are unequal to the wants of that great and increasing 
city alone. The only coal that can compete with ours in 
the Californian market, upon a large scale, is that which 
comes from Newcastle, New South Wales. 

The table that follows shows a chemical comparison of 
Vancouver Island coal with other varieties : — 



STATISTICS OF COAL. 



143 



Locality or Name of Coal 


Specific 
gravity 
of Coai 


Carbon 


Hy- 

drogen 


Ni- 
trogen 


Sul- 
phur 


Oxygen 


Ash 


Per- 
centage 
of Coke 


Welsh Coal . 


1.305 


90.94 


4.28 


1.21 


1.18 


0.94 


1.45 


85.0 


Van Diemen's Land 


— 


70.40 


4.20 


1.11 


0.70 


9.27 


14.38 


none 


Sydney, N.S.W. . 


— 


82.39 


5.32 


1.23 


0.70 


8.32 


2.04 




Formosa Island 


1.24 


78.26 


5.70 


0.64 


0.49 


10.95 


3.96 




Borneo, 11 ft. seam 


1.21 


70.33 


5.41 


0.67 


1.17 


19.19 


3.23 




Conception Bay, Chili 


1.29 


70.55 


5.76 


0.95 


1.98 


13.24 


7.52 




Vancouver 


— 


66.93 


5.32 


1.02 


2.20 


8.70 


15.83 


V 



It will be seen from this analysis that our coal, which 
is in the main bituminous, leaves behind when burned a 
large residuum of ash ; but the specimens examined were 
taken from near the surface, and already the quality im- 
proves as the vein is penetrated. The kind now produced 
is held in high estimation, for the purpose of generating 
gas ; and there is every reason to hope that our mines 
will yet yield coal vying with the best now known any- 
where for steam uses. 

The following statement, given by Dr. Eattray, of the 
imports of coal into San Francisco, in 1861 and 1862, 
shows how largely that city is dependent upon supplies 
from a distance, and the consequent opportunities afforded 
to coal mining companies in this colony to dispose of their 
exports : — 



Variety 


January 1 to 
December 16, 1861 


January 1 to 
March 15, 1862 


English 

Cumberland .... 

Chili 

Sydney 

Japan 

Coose and Bellingham Bay (imported 

free of duty) .... 
Anthracite (New York) 
Vancouver Island (Nanaimo) 


Tons 

24,895 

2,662 

12,254 

12,304 

25 

16,183 

26,291 

5,204 


Tons 

5,036 

2,876 

3,942 
125 

2,535 
5,176 
4,235 



144 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Comparative List of Prices of Goal at Vancouver Island and 
San Francisco. 



Variety 


Price at the Mines 


Price at Victoria 


Price at San 
Francisco 


Nanaimo Coal 
Chilian . 
English . 
New South Wales . 


$ 

6 to 7 


$ 
11 


$ 

12 to 15 
12 to 15 
15 to 20 
12 to 13 



The duty on foreign coal in San Francisco is, I believe, 
24 per cent. 

Two seams examined by practical mining engineers at 
Nanaimo, are reported to average from 6 to 8 feet in thick- 
ness. The coal is described as c a soft black lignite, of a 
dull earthy fracture, interspersed with small lenticular 
bands of bright crystalline coal, and resembling some of 
the duller varieties of coal produced in the South Derby- 
shire and other central coal-fields in England. In some 
places, it exhibits the peculiar jointed structure, causing 
it to split into long prisms, observable in the brown coal 
of Bohemia.' Sometimes there occurs a floor of clay, but 
more generally of sandstone, and a roof consisting of a fine 
conglomerate bed, about 60 feet thick. The roof of one 
seam is sometimes of iron-clay shale. Out- crops have 
been discovered at various distances from the shafts already 
sunk, supposed to be continuations of the beds now 
worked. These beds lie nearly horizontal, with sufficient 
dip towards the south and west for drainage, and are 
worked within 50 or 60 feet of the surface. In the commo- 
dious harbour of Nanaimo excellent wharves are erected, 
and vessels can be loaded within a few feet of the pit's 
mouth. One vessel has taken in as much as 150 tons per 
day, and a number of vessels might, without inconve- 
nience, be loaded together. 



STATISTICS OF COAL. 145 

The coal interest at JSTanaimo was owned, till within 
the last few years by the Hudson's Bay Company, but 
that trade being foreign to their accustomed investments, 
it did not receive from them the attention required to 
make it profitable. The mines were therefore purchased 
from them by an English joint-stock concern, styled ' the 
Vancouver Island Coal Mining and Land Company,' for 
40,000/. The property includes 6,193 acres of land, 
100 dwelling-houses, stores, workshops, machinery, 
steam-engines, wharves, barges, saw-mill, &c. The new 
company have subscribed 100,000/.,. in 10/. shares. 

Upon a capital of 50,000£. (says their prospectus), which, 
after providing for the purchase and first outlay, will amply 
suffice to work the coal-fields, so as to keep pace with the in- 
creasing demand, the directors can with certainty calculate on 
a profit of not less than 20 per cent. One thousand tons weekly 
could be raised by this expenditure, and could be readily sold at 
25s. per ton. Mr, Nicol, the present manager, calculated the 
cost of raising and shipping the coal, on the average of several 
years, at 1 6s. per ton, — viz. raising the coal to the surface, 1 0s. ; 
shipping and agency, 5s. ; and taxes, Is. ; this, at the present 
price of 25s. per ton, will give a profit of 9s. per ton ; and a 
sale of even 500 tons weekly would, therefore, insure a profit of 
2251. a week, or nearly 12,000£. a year, upon the estimated ex- 
penditure of 50,000?. 

****** 

San Francisco alone consumes 14,000 tons a month, the 
greater portion of which has hitherto been brought from Eng- 
land or the eastern coast of the States, and has been sold as 
high as 51. per ton. 

The following table represents the total quantity shipped 
from Nanaimo from the opening of the mines till De- 
cember 1863 : — 



146 



GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 









1859 


I860 


1861 


1862 


1863 




Tons 


Tons 


Tons 


Tons 


Tons 


January 




2,127 


1,007 


1,813 


1,877 


February 






c5 


1,188 


1,157 


709 


1,675 


March . 








908 


1,508 


956 


1,330 


April . 
May . 






1,220 


1,979 


1,163 


1,061 






3 


1,298 


1,013 


647 


1,159 


June 






1 


1,099 


184 


738 


1,557 


July . 






I 


328 


224 


1,347 


1,313 


August 






o 


717 


1,035 


1,114 


1,008 


September 






fc 


543 


395 


1,332 


1,581 


October 








2,262 


1,528 


3,926 


2,966 


November] 






1,291 


1,207 


1,153 


1,777 


2,516 


December 






698 


1,350 


2,591 


2,596 


3,302 


Totals 






1,989 


14,247 


13,774 


18,118 


21,345 



Total number of tons shipped from November 1859 . . . 69,473 
Total number of tons shipped from October 1852 to November 1859 25,398 

Whole quantity left Nanaimo . 94,871 
There were 7,697 tons more shipped in 1864 than in 1863. 

At the first annual meeting of the directors, held in March 
1864, the Hon. C. W. W. Fitzwilliam, M.P., in the chair, a 
report was submitted, extracts from which indicate how 
far the hopes of the company, as expressed in their pro- 
spectus, were realised. 

The directors are able to congratulate the shareholders on 
the position of the company and the progress of the works at 
Nanaimo. The locomotive, the first which has been introduced 
into the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, is 
now in full working order, and has already tended to reduce 
the cost of loading and shipping the coal ; and Mr. Nicol re- 
marks that he still thinks when he gets the appliances required 
(additional rails and wharves), and has time to get them into 
working order, and the output and the demand increase to his 
expectations of no less than 3,000 tons a month, that the total 
cost of railing and loading the coal will be below his estimate of 
16s. per ton, as set out in the prospectus. . . . The shipments 
have exceeded Mr. NieoVs estimate by nearly 1,400 tons. . . . 
The advance would probably have been greatly increased but for 



NANAIMO COAL COMPANY. 147 

the difficulty of obtaining vessels at San Francisco at moderate 
rates of freight. In order that this obstruction to the local trade 
should be removed, the directors have recently given instructions 
to at once charter, on the company's account, two vessels of about 
600 tons each, for the purpose of furnishing a continuous supply 
to the San Francisco market. . . . Mr. Nicol says that the de- 
mand is always increasing. The San Francisco market would 
take 30,000 tons of their coal if they could reduce the price. 
The approval of the coal by the engineers of Her Majesty's 
ships is a guarantee that all future supplies for the naval depots 
in the Pacific will be taken from Nanaimo. Dr. Forbes esti- 
mates the coal within an area of 800,000 square yards, or about 
165 acres, at 3,000,000 tons — a quantity practically inexhaus- 
tible. 

As this is the pioneer coal mining company in our island, 
and still the only one engaged in the export of the colo- 
nial product under consideration (though other companies 
are setting to work in earnest), the reader will excuse a 
brief additional space given to details. An extract from the 
last report of the directors submitted in London, Novem- 
ber 29, 1864, further proves how strong are the induce- 
ments offered for the formation of many rival companies, 
for the exportation of coal from the colony. 

Since the issue of the last report, the directors have received 
from their manager information of the continued progress of 
the works in connection with the colliery, and the most satis- 
factory accounts of increasing settlement on the property of the 
company. 

The output of coal for the first six months of 1864 has been 
increased to nearly double that for the same period during the 
previous year. ... The character of the company's coal and 
the facilities afforded for shipment are now becoming so well 
known that the directors have no fear for the future. 

The recent discovery of gold about thirty miles from Victoria, 
on the Sooke Eiver, will add very materially to the prosperity 
of Vancouver Island, giving an impetus to trade by the immi- 



148 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

gration of the labouring population from California, which has 
been so long required. . . . 

The manager thinking it desirable to test the value of the 
land at Nanaimo, arrangements were made for the sale at Vic- 
toria, in the month of May last, of certain lots by public auction, 
and accordingly at such sale 100 lots were disposed of. . . . The 
sum for which the lots were sold amounted to 4,6071. ; and the 
sum of 5,0401., which appears in the profit and loss account as 
the amount of those sales, together with other sales of town 
lots to the employes of the company at Nanaimo during the 
first six months, will be carried to the credit of the land mort- 
gage account. 

The test which has thus been afforded of the value of the 
town site offers an assurance that Nanaimo will continue to 
hold her present position as the second city in the colony, and 
justifies the anticipation expressed in the prospectus that the 
estate of the company, independently of the coal seams, will 
eventually realise the whole of the purchase-money. . . . 

Nanaimo is a port of entry ; the harbour has been carefully 
buoyed, and is available at all tides ; and a commodious wharf 
is nearly completed, giving greater facilities for the loading of 
ships of deep draught. 

In the balance-sheet submitted, the profit upon the coal trade 
and other sources, for the half year ending June 30, 1864, is 
shown as amounting to 4,1261. 13s. 5d. ; and adding to this 
4,0321. 2s. 4d., the balance of profit and loss carried over at the 
end of the past year, after paying a dividend of 5 per cent, and 
reserving the sum of 6001. as a depreciation fund for the steamer 
' Fideliter,' and also writing off the sum of 4411. 4s. 4d. from pre- 
liminary expenses account, will leave a balance of profit, exclu- 
sive of sales, of 8,1 581. 13s. 6d. . . . 

The directors feel they have every reason to congratulate the 
shareholders on the present position of the company's property, 
and that they have been enabled, within a period of two years 
from the date at which the transfer was completed, to realise all 
that was set out in their prospectus. 

In the comparative statement of shipments of coal, the 



MAEKETS FOE COAL. 149 

quantity removed in 1863-64 is shown to be 15,522 
tons. 

Besides the markets for coal already specified, another 
of some importance was opened at the end of last year. 
Late advices from Victoria inform us that the Eussian 
steam propeller, 'Prince Constantine,' took to Sitka 350 tons 
of Nanaimo coal, as a trial shipment. It was reported that 
she should be followed by a large Eussian ship which was 
being refitted for the express purpose of proceeding to 
our colony for a cargo of coal. There are always several 
Eussian steam-ships of war cruising in the Pacific, and 
there is little doubt that in future most of them will 
coal in Vancouver Island. The coal found in the Eussian 
possessions is a sort of inferior lignite, and can be burned 
with difficulty. The seams, which are very thin, have 
been worked for many years by the Eussians at con- 
siderable loss. Last summer, when the recently appointed 
governor of Sitka was on his way north, he passed a few 
days in Victoria, and, observing the excellence of our coal, 
lost no time in ordering two of the vessels under his direc- 
tion to load with it. 

A company, supported by some large British capitalists, 
among whom I believe are noblemen, has been formed to 
work an important coal mine, situated not far from the 
premises of the Nanaimo firm. An Act has passed the 
local legislature to enable them to construct a railroad 
through the lands of the other mining company, for con- 
veying the product of the mine to the loading place. The 
new concern takes its name from a noble lord who is said 
to be largely interested in it, and is known as ' the Hare- 
wood Coal Mining Company/ The following communica- 
tion, addressed to ' The British Columbian ' newspaper by 
one familiar with the inspection of mines, conveys some 
account of this promising vein ; — 



150 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Sik, — The Victoria papers are too much occupied with their 
prodigious gold discoveries at Sooke to pay any attention to their 
coal mines, which are much more important. They have cer- 
tainly got a very fine coal field in Vancouver Island. As there is 
at present a good deal of animation in this town about coal and 
coal mines, I beg to lay before your readers a few facts which I 
noted when I was at Nanaimo on Saturday last. I went over 
the Harewood Mine with Mr. Kobert Dunsmuir, the agent, and 
another gentleman. I have had a good deal of experience in 
coal mines, and, according to my ideas, the Harewood Mine 
offers more facilities for working than any other mine on the 
Pacific coast. The seam runs due north, sloping up from the 
sea. This slope is of very great advantage, for two reasons, as 
the company can tunnel instead of sinking a shaft, and so can 
draw their coal out instead of raising it ; and again, they can 
drain a very large extent of ground, a mile and a half by three 
miles, from one opening, without being obliged to use pumps or 
any engines whatsoever. A tunnel is much safer for men to 
work in than a shaft, and this is a better tunnel than ordinary, 
for above the seam of coal is a good sandstone formation, which 
obviates the necessity of using any timber to hold the top. Not 
that timber is dear in this country, but then labour is. As far as 
I could judge by a cursory inspection, the coal is of an excellent 
quality, with very little sulphur in it, and I think that it is very 
good for making steam. Much credit is due to Mr. Dunsmuir, 
for his skill in tracing the seam. He has not been sinking 
holes here and there as a less experienced man might have done, 
but he has followed the lead most perse veringly and to a suc- 
cessful issue. Hoping that this may interest some of our 
present coal explorers, who I hope will meet with luck, I 
conclude with, 

Yours truly, 

John Kees Peice. 

The largest portion of the east side of the island may be 
described as a huge coal bed. This mineral has also 
been found cropping out at various points on the west 
coast. The geological map printed for the use of the 



COPPER. 151 

Parliamentary committee appointed to examine the affairs 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1857, presents a great 
coal district on the mainland, running parallel with that 
traced on the island. As might have been expected, 
workable seams have been discovered in Burrard Inlet 
and at Langley. 

A gentleman, who has resided about two years on the 
north-west coast of the island, states that he saw at Kos- 
keemo five seams, varying in thickness, one of these being 
about 3 feet 10 inches, and another about 6 feet 2 
inches in width. The entire section of country lying 
between Koskeemo and Port McNeil, a distance of 
sixteen miles, abounds more or less in valuable mineral. 
At the latter place, which is about twelve miles south of 
Fort Eupert, four good seams are visible. The mine at 
Fort McNeil has been opened ; the first output consisting 
of some 50 tons of very superior quality. 

Copper. — This metal abounds in the colony. The 
first lode of any consequence that was discovered came 
under public notice in a casual manner. An Indian was 
passing the office of an assay er in Victoria, in 1860, with 
specimens of copper ore in his hand. The gentleman 
examined them, and almost immediately a company was 
formed to explore the region where the native said the 
original of the ore was to be found. The lode was traced 
across certain small islands contiguous to Queen Charlotte 
Island, and up to this date probably £10,000 may have 
been expended upon the working of it. When it is borne 
in mind that there are properly no capitalists in the 
company, the result may be deemed not discouraging. 

A professional copper-mining engineer, sent out from the 
parent country by a wealthy English company to explore 
for minerals, inspected the property of the Queen Charlotte 
Island Mining Company, and drew up an elaborate report, 



152 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

from which it appears that he found the following 
favourable indications in those parts of the company's land 
immediately accessible : — 

No. 1. A vein of copper clearly traceable for 700 to 800 
yards along the shore of Burnaby Island, from the east point, 
beyond the house, along the SSE. shore, towards the house. 

No. 2. A cross copper vein, from where No. 1 is lost, under 
the sea, running NE. and SW. across the promontory towards 
Blue Jay Harbour. 

No. 3. A very strong quartz vein on the north side of Blue 
Jay Harbour ; clearly visible. 

No. 4. A small horizontal vein, to eastward of No. 3. — Iron 
and copper, and mixed with quartz. 

No. 5. A clear and well defined outcrop of a copper vein on 
Skincuttle Island, runningNNE. and SSW„, but cutoff by a dyke. 

No. 6. A twisted and mixed outcrop of a copper vein, on 
opposite or NE. side of Skincuttle Island. 

No. 7. A large quartz vein on Greorge Island. 

No. 8. A large quartz vein at NE. end of Greorge Island, seen 
from canoe, but not visited. 

No. 9. A quartz vein at W. end of Jeffray Island, which 
crosses the island and meets No. 10. 

No. 10. A copper vein rich in green carbonates, running 
SSW. and NNE. 

No. 11. A vein of copper and iron, on mainland, at the 
entrance to Harriet Harbour, on south side of Sockalee Harbour. 

Quantities of this ore have been shipped to England and 
the eastern States of America. Chapter II. contains a list 
of joint-stock companies formed in Victoria, among which 
are most of those engaged in copper mining. 

In company with a gentleman experienced in directing 
copper mines in Wales, I had an opportunity some time 
since of inspecting a vein in the island, which extended a 
great distance. The description of ore picked up at the 
mouth of the shaft, was the ordinary pyrites of copper. 



MAGNETIC IRON ORE. 153 

» 

But I have seen excellent specimens of peacock ore, red and 
black oxides, and green carbonate, brought from other 
local mines. The average percentage of metal yielded by 
the copper ore of the island is 25 per cent. It is said that 
8 per cent is deemed a paying ratio in the ore of Wales 
and Cornwall. If the value of the colonial ore is properly 
calculated, there is certainly a sufficient margin left to pay 
freight and charges, together with a handsome profit. 

Mr. Pemberton states that he saw specimens of copper 
nearly pure taken from Deer Island, in the neighbourhood 
of Fort Eupert. As it is not my intention to enter 
specifically into any of the metallic resources of British 
Columbia, except gold, it may be mentioned here that I 
have seen pieces of pure copper taken from Stickeen Eiver, 
where the natives prepare it for useful and ornamental 
purposes. 

In a population so small and of such limited ability as 
that which inhabits our colony > it is hardly to be supposed 
that capital enough should be found to develop this branch 
of our resources satisfactorily. This expensive labour is 
only to be performed efficiently by extensive associated 
capital, and a more inviting prospect for wealthy British 
companies does not exist in any other section of British 
territory. The present stockholders, who are for the 
most part unable to bring the copper enterprise to great 
issues, should be relieved of their shares at a reasonable 
bonus, and displaced by those who possess the means of 
introducing the appliances requisite for bringing the mines 
to a prosperous condition. Veins are freely distributed in 
most parts of the island and on the opposite side of the 
Gulf of Georgia. 

Magnetic iron ore from the north of the colony, contain- 
ing 70 per cent of iron and a little copper, was exhibited 
at the World's Fair, in London, in 1862. 



154 GENEEAL itESOUKCES OF VANCOUVEE ISLAND. 

Limestone is every where abundant ; so is sandstone, 
which is of excellent quality for building purposes. 

Blue Marble is also found on the coast, often intersected 
with veins of white as much as nine inches thick. For 
this material San Francisco offers a good market. Quanti- 
ties of it are imported annually from Vermont via New 
York, and thence shipped. It is also brought from Italy, and 
costs 11. per square foot in the rough. It is used for making 
monuments and mantelpieces. San Franciso is said to pay 
for the article between 15,000£ and 20,000/. a year. 

Blue Clay, suitable for the manufacture of bricks, tiles, 
and coarse pottery, is diffused over a portion of the island, 
often near the surface. 

Gold. — The existence of gold in the island has been 
known since 1850. 'In 1852,' writes Mr. Pemberton, 'I 
broke off, almost at random, pieces of gold-bearing rock in 
various places within a walk of Victoria.' In the same 
year, the Hudson's Bay Company despatched the ' Una' to 
Queen Charlotte Island with a party of miners provided 
with every requisite for blasting gold-bearing quartz on 
a large scale. The historian of the expedition says : — 

Anchored in Mitchell Harbour, on the western side of the 
island, a valuable quartz vein was soon discovered. It was 
7 inches wide, was traced for 80 feet, and contained 25 per 
cent of gold in many places. For several days the vein was 
worked with but one bar to their success, and that a serious 
one. At every blast the natives scrambled with the miners and 
with one another for the fragments. As neither side was armed, 
these arrangements were conducted with perfect good humour. 
By way of episode to the general engagements, both parties 
occasionally paused to witness a fair wrestling match between 
some sturdy Scotchman who had the science, and any Indian 
that was ambitious to distinguish himself; and the miners them- 
selves afterwards admitted that nakedness and fish oil often 
carried the day. At length the vein was abandoned, anchor 



GOLD US THE ISLAND. 155 

weighed, and the ( Una' wrecked and burnt on her way back to 
Victoria. The heaviest specimens of pure gold as yet obtained 
from Queen Charlotte Island weighed from 14 to 16 ounces. 

The first appearance of gold in Vancouver that excited 
special notice was found in 1863, in a district about four- 
teen miles from Victoria, now known as ' Goldstream.' 
Here the precious metal was extracted from quartz rock, 
there being no placer ' diggings.' In a short time the 
auriferous ground was staked out, and ten companies were 
formed to work it, which they did with varied success. 
The Parmeter Company, in order to test thoroughly 
the rock which they had blasted, sent half a ton of it 
to San Francisco to be crushed and assayed. A bar of 
amalgamated silver and gold was the result, giving an 
average $25 to the ton. This may be pronounced a 
hopeful return from quartz at a depth of 50 feet from 
the surface. It is stated that the famous 'Comstock' 
lead at Washoe did not begin to pay richly till a depth 
of 200 feet had been reached. Other quartz mining 
companies engaged in the same neighbourhood, though 
invariably finding fair ' prospects,' have not been so suc- 
cessful as the Parmeter ; but the chief obstacle to 
progress, as in relation to the development of other 
resources, has been the want of adequate capital to 
pursue operations. Many thousands of pounds have been 
sunk in mining speculations in California and elsewhere 
with much less certainty of a profitable issue. 

A new and important era has just dawned on the gold- 
mining interest of Vancouver Island, that will be irn- 
perishably associated with the name of the present 
talented and popular representative of Her Majesty — 
Governor Kennedy. His predecessor, though often urged 
to adopt vigorous measures for the exploration of the 
colony, invariably declined to comply with the entreaties 



156 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

of the public in reference to this object. But the first 
official act of Captain Kennedy, after his accession to the 
seat of government, was to suggest that the citizens of 
Victoria should raise subscriptions for the purpose of 
sending out an exploring party, His Excellency promis- 
ing to supplement largely the contributions of the people, 
from funds which the estimates for the year authorised 
him in devoting to the purposes of exploration. The 
liberal and thoughtful offer of the Governor was taken up 
warmly, and without delay. An efficient committee was 
appointed to cooperate with the Government in the matter, 
and a number of volunteers, including some ex-Eoyal 
Engineers, presented themselves for the acceptance of 
the authorities, and were approved. Mr. Brown, acting 
as collector for the British Columbian Botanical Society 
of Edinburgh, was appointed commander of the expedi- 
tion ; and the fourth despatch of that gentleman, dated 
July 21, 1864, brought news of the discovery of gold 
about twenty-five miles from Victoria, that created intense 
excitement. The sequel proves that the statements of 
Mr. Brown were not exaggerated. He writes : — 

The discovery which I have to communicate is the finding of 
gold on the banks of one of the forks of the Sooke River, about 
twelve miles from the sea, in a straight line and in a locality 
never hitherto reached by white men, in all probability, never 
even by natives. I forward an eighth of an ounce (or there- 
abouts) of the coarse scale gold washed out of twelve pans of 
dirt, in many places 20 feet above the river $ and with no tools 
but a shovel and a gold pan. The lowest prospect obtained was 
three cents to the pan ; the highest $1 to the pan, and work 
like that with the rocker would yield what pay you can better 
calculate than I can, and the development of which with what 
results to the colony you may imagine. The diggings extend 
for fully 25 miles, and would give employment to more than 
4,000 men. Many of the claims would take eight to ten men. 



DISCOVERIES AT SOOKE. 157 

to work them. The diggings could be wrought with great 
facility by fluming the bed of the stream. The banks and 
benches can be sluiced or rocked. The timber on the banks 
will supply to the whipsaw all the timber that can ever be 
required for the miner's purposes. The country abounds with 
game, and the ( honest miner ' need never fear but that he can 
find food enough without much trouble. A saw mill could be 
erected at the head waters (or say at the forks of Leech 
River), and lumber for flumes, pumps, wheels, sluices, etc., 
floated down to the miners, and on the whole the value of the 
diggings cannot be easily over-estimated. I may add that there 
is any amount of ' five cent dirt,' and with proper tools the 
average prospect is about one bit to the pan. The gold will 
speak for itself. 

Mr. Foley, an intelligent member of the expedition, 
gave, in substance, to the committee the following parti- 
culars of the new auriferous region. From the Indian 
village at the mouth of Sooke Harbour, and to the right 
approaching the river, to the head of canoe navigation, is 
about two miles. A trail takes the traveller, after a 
journey of some half-dozen miles, to a canon. ' Prospects ' 
are to be had along the river below the canon. A man 
living near this place told Mr. Foley that he had once 
obtained a nugget worth £fty cents on a little creek not 
many yards from his hut. 

The general character of the country, from the harbour 
to the canon, is open ; the timber being valuable and the 
land much richer than between Cowichan and San Juan 
Eiver. It is almost free from underbrush, and contains, 
for a quarter of a mile, on both sides, abundance of grass 
and wild lupine. The general bearing of the river at this 
part is about south-east. The ' prospects ' here were 
found by Mr. Foley to average three or four cents to the 
pan. The ' prospects ' taken on the large bar immediately 
above the canon were estimated to average, to an ex- 



158 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

perienced miner with a rocker, $1 or #8 a day. The 
length of the bar is about 300 feet, and the breadth, as 
far as the ' pay dirt ' can be traced back, 25 feet. The 
gold is of a coarse kind, and very good in quality. From 
the canon to where Leech Eiver debouches into the Sooke 
Eiver is about seven miles. The general course of the 
river between these two points is SSE., and will pay, from 
the canon to the forks, handsomely. Mr. Foley made 
about sixty ' prospects ' on the way up, and not one of the 
washings was without some result : the highest was fifteen 
cents to the pan. These diggings comprise three branches ; 
those on the river could only be worked by numing the 
stream ; the banks can be ' rocked,' and the benches 
' sluiced.' The stream averages 100 feet wide, and though 
in summer it has not more than 1,000 inches of water, 
according to miners' reckoning, in the winter it is a large 
river. It rises between 25 and 30 feet, and when full 
must be more than 200 feet wide. The travelling is not 
difficult, as the country is of an open character. In ad- 
vancing, the party came to the stream named after the 
second officer of the expedition, Leech Eiver. Mr. 
Foley saw some quartz here, which, on trial, turned out 
to be comprised principally of silver — the calcareous base 
on which gold is chiefly found. The timber continued to 
be superior, and the country level and open. Here a lake 
was met with, that probably no white man had ever 
visited before. Captain Grant had seen it at a distance 
more than ten years ago, from one of the mountain peaks. 
Its length is ten miles, and its mean breadth two : the 
latitude of the southern extremity of the lake is N. 48° 
30' 49". The lower part is covered for three or four 
miles with beaver dams, and these animals are to be seen 
in great numbers ; the game, never having been previously 
disturbed by white man or Indian, is exceedingly tame. 



THE SOOKE MINES. 159 

The ' prospects ' from the mouth of Leech Eiver, which 
empties into Sooke Eiver, averaged about eight cents to 
the pan, but some reached as high as forty-nine cents, and 
in one case nearly $1 to the pan was obtained. Leech 
Eiver is about 60 or 70 feet wide, and from its mouth to 
the first canon is about two miles, which space can be easily 
flumed : the bed-rock is talcose slate. The channel, banks, 
and benches will afford employment for a large number of 
men. Mr. Foley continued ' prospecting ' till in ascend- 
ing Leech Eiver he had advanced twenty-two miles from 
Sooke Harbour. As he ascended, the quality of the gold 
found grew coarser, yielding twenty-five cents to the pan. 
The ' prospects ' became richer, and the gold yet coarser, 
as he travelled along the north fork of Leech Eiver. 

Here, then, was an extent of river twenty-five miles 
long, all of it auriferous, and giving ' prospects ' which 
miners would not have slighted, even in the palmy days 
of California. In all his long experience in that State and 
in Cariboo, Mr. Foley never saw a more promising mining 
country than the one through which he passed. 

Another gentleman, who, with the one just named, is 
personally known to me, made a tour through Sooke 
district, and thus writes : — 

The whole number of (mining) licences taken out up to 
8 o'clock yesterday morning (14th August, 1864) was 227. . . . 
Dean, Thorne, & Co's claim was reached. They were preparing 
to drive a tunnel into the hill, as they had found excellent 
prospects, as high as 20 cents to the pan, on the top of the first 
bench, which is 100 feet high ! The claim-owners stated positively 
that they never washed any dirt from the benches without 
obtaining gold. . . . They were very sanguine of getting 
splendid pay in the bed-rock, and believed that millions of 
dollars would be found in the bed of the river. On coming to 
the claim of the Wake-up Lake Company, Mr. Fell was shown 
the prospect of their day's labour in a tin cup, amounting to 



160 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

nearly #100, and consisting of beautiful coarse gold. One com- 
pany had borrowed a rickety old rocker, and had got out $25 
that day, expecting to make it $40 by nightfall. Some distance 
above this the Balaclava Company picked up off the rocks nug- 
gets of values varying between $5 and $10. Mr. Fell sends 
home very fine nuggets found without i washing.' 

From the point where our informant now was, a grand 
view up the river for two or three miles was obtained. 
The bed of the stream is here filled with enormous boul- 
ders : a long line of stakes, marking off the claims taken 
up, are visible as far as the eye can reach. At 5 p.m. the 
traveller retraced his steps down the stream, when his 
olfactories were assailed perpetually by the savoury smells 
of the miners' evening meal. Five fellow-travellers were 
met with, having a large boulder for a table, engaged in 
the task of appeasing voracious appetites. After dinner 
a song was started, and was taken up by camp after camp 
of miners, the melody rolling far away up the recesses of 
the river, till its echoes died out in the distance. The 
travellers then rolled themselves in their blankets, with a 
flour-bag for a pillow, to sleep, till the tramp of upward- 
bound miners should wake them at sunrise. 

An overland trail, about twenty-five miles lbng, is now 
in use by man and beast from Victoria to the digging, 
one important effect of which is to cheapen provisions 
conveyed to the miners. 

Another correspondent, addressing his brother, says : — 

Leech River, Tuesday. 
Dear Henry, — We arrived last night and started a prospecting. 
We have joined Bill Nixon, for we had been out of grub, having 
left it behind at the mouth of the river. There is plenty of gold 
here. Booth took out a piece of 5 ounces in weight, which you 
will see. If you think of coming, come early. I have not 
taken up a claim for any one, as the Gold Commissioner will 



YIELD OF THE MINES. 161 

allow only 72 hours to hold it without being properly repre- 
sented. We have struck 3 cent dirt this afternoon which we 
have taken up. Two of the party go up to-morrow morning, 
four remain here, and three go back for grub. Tell Godsoe to 
come. If you come, come with grub by the steamer, and if you 
can, get an Indian to pack ; but the diggings, I think, will beat 
Cariboo. Tell Eeed, the ferryman, there is a claim for him. 
Enclosed is a prospect from one pan. 

In the month of August, Thain & Co's. claim was paying 
about 2 ozs. (or $34) per day to the rocker. A nugget 
worth $70 was found about two miles above the mouth 
of Leech river ; another company took out 3 ozs. in eight 
hours by crevicing. Mr. Mxon, a compositor from the 
' Chronicle' office, and company, started the first rocker on 
the creek, and made at the rate of $10 a day to the hand. 

One man obtained a $5 nugget from a pan of coarse dirt ; 
a claim owned by coloured men paid from $10 to $20 per 
clay. Mr. Keyser's company, in four hours' digging and 
'rocking,' cleaned up $42, among which was a piece 
weighing $7, another $4, and two or three valued at $1 
each. The gold was pure ore. Jim Williams took out, 
with a pan, in four hours' work, about $7. This claim 
is located about 1^ miles above the mouth of the river. 
Marvin and Adams washed, from one and a half pans of 
dirt, five or six dollars. 

This rate of success was not, of course, uniform. A large 
proportion of those who first arrived at the mines, having 
had no experience in a mining country, after stopping a day 
or two, and not finding lumps of gold visible to the naked 
eye, returned to Victoria discouraged, without ever strik- 
ing a pick in the ground. Instances could be pointed 
to, of men glancing over the district superficially for a 
couple of days, without having brought pick, pan, shovel, 
or muscular power into requisition, and then retreating in 

M 



162 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

a state of disappointment and indignation ! This is usually 
the class distinguished for writing stormy letters to the 
English newspapers in denunciation of the country which 
has unrighteously to bear the blame of every idle and 
thriftless vagabond's failure. Active and fortunate miners 
have no motive for seeking the notoriety of cacoethes scri- 
bendi. 

In October last a new gulch was discovered on the east 
side of Leech river, emptying into the latter at Bacon bar. 
It was ' prospected ' by a Cariboo miner named Water- 
ford, who picked up a piece of gold valued at $1.25. 
He went to work next day, and realised from $10 to $12, 
and about twenty men at once took up claims, and built 
sluices. The discoverer had been sceptical of the produc- 
tiveness of the diggings, saying he would not give $5 for 
the whole country. Now he would not take a large sum 
for 100 feet. Late intelligence reports a nugget worth $50 
to have been found in the Alberni claim, and another 
worth $33, by the Industry Company. The former nugget 
contained quartz to which the gold clung in fantastic 
shapes. No more proof can be needed of the richness of 
a district that has only been known to the world and ' pro- 
spected' by a few hundred miners, for two or three 
months. The golden wealth to be disgorged when labour 
and enterprise are more widely applied, in that and other 
parts of the island, is incalculable. 

Jordan river was discovered in the fall of 1864, and 
presents romantic features resembling those of Sooke and 
Leech rivers. Travelling here, as in other directions 
throughout that picturesque neighbourhood, is rendered 
difficult by the timber being dense and the path often 
precipitous. In crevicing on the Jordan, parties obtained 
good specimens of scale and shot gold. 

Further accounts inform us that a man named Weine 



FISHERIES. 163 

had found a $35 nugget, which he washed out in the 
second pan ; that the Crate Company were taking out 
with rockers nearly an ounce a day to the hand. The 
Last Chance Company were making about the same 
amount. The Scandinavian Company divided $1,000, and 
the Bacon-bar Company $1,700, accumulated respectively 
in one week. The first day Allen & Co. ran their sluices 
they took out in two hours an ounce and a quarter. It is 
estimated that $30,000 was taken out of the mines by a 
limited number of hands in little more than a month. 

The occurrence of freshets in the fall, and a period of 
frost in winter, will necessarily interrupt the energetic 
prosecution of mining labour at Sooke ; but when the mines 
are more fully opened, tunnelling and bench diggings may 
be followed all the year round. 

These mines are not to be compared, for the present 
at least, with Cariboo, in respect to extent of yield. But 
they will afford occupation for the winter months to the 
miners of British Columbia, who have been in the habit, 
in too many cases, of spending that season in idleness and 
its attendant follies. 

FISHERIES. 

The seas, bays, and rivers of both these colonies teem 
with domestic resources of this description in endless 
variety. 

Herrings, which make their appearance in our bights 
and harbours in March, may be mentioned first in order. 
On the coasts of Vancouver Island these fish are large, and 
admirably adapted to make bloaters. 

Hoolakans ascend the streams in April in dense shoals. 
Their approach is indicated by the presence of sea-gulls 
swooping down to devour them, and causing the banks of 
the river to echo with their screeching. This species are 

M 2 



164 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

about the size of a small herring, and are so fat as to baffle 
ordinary methods of cooking to prepare them for the 
table. Oil is pressed from them by the Indians on the 
coast, and disposed of to tribes in the interior. It possesses 
a medicinal value, and cannot fail to be useful where any 
hydrocarbonaceous food, such as cod-liver oil, is pre- 
scribed. 

Mr. Duncan, missionary to the natives, near Fort Simp- 
son, in a letter to the Church Missionary Society, gives a 
description of the primitive process of extracting adopted 
by the Indians. 

In a general way I found each house had a pit near it, about 3 
feet deep and 6 or 8 inches square, filled with little fish. I found 
some Indians making boxes to put the grease in, others cutting 
firewood, and others (women and children) stringing the fish 
and hanging them up to dry in the sun ; while others, and they 
the greater number, were making fish grease. The process is 
as follows : — Make a large fire ; place three or four heaps of 
stones as big as your hand in it ; while these are heating, fill a 
few baskets with rather stale fish, and get a tub of water into 
the house. When the stones are red hot, bring a deep box 
about 18 inches square (the sides of which are all one piece of 
wood) near the fire, and put about half a gallon of the fish into 
it, and as much fresh water, then three or four hot stones, using 
wooden tongs. Eepeat the doses again, then stir up the whole. 
Eepeat them again, stir again ; take out the cold stones and 
place them in the fire. Proceed in this way till the box is nearly 
full, then let the whole cool and commence skimming off the 
grease. While this is cooking, prepare another boxful in the 
same way. In doing the third, use, instead of fresh water, the 
liquid from the first box. On coming to the refuse of the boiled 
fish in the box, which is still pretty warm, let it be put into a 
rough willow basket ; then let an old woman, for the purpose of 
squeezing the liquid from it, lay it on a wooden grate sufficiently 
elevated to let a wooden box stand under ; then let her lay her 
naked chest on it, and press it with all her weight. On no 



VARIETIES OF SALMON. 165 

account must a male undertake to do this. Cast what remains 
in the basket anywhere near the house ; but take the liquid just 
saved and use it over again instead of fresh water. The refuse 
must be allowed to accumulate ; and though it will soon become 
putrid and change into a heap of creeping maggots, and give 
out a smell almost unendurable, it must not be removed. The 
filth contracted by those engaged in the work must not be 
washed off till all is over, that is, till all the fish are boiled, and 
this will take about two or three weeks. All these plans must 
be carried out without any addition or change, otherwise the 
fish will be ashamed and perhaps never come back again. So 
think and act the poor Indians. 

When dried, the hoolakan is often used by the natives 
as a torch, and, when lighted, it emits a brilliant light. 
The Indians catch this species of fish by impaling them on 
rows of nails at the end of a stick, about four feet long, 
and so thickly do they swarm, that every time this rude 
implement is waved in the water, two or three of them 
adhere to it.* 

Various species of salmon proceed in succession up the 
rivers from March to October. In the Fraser especially, 
the periodic arrival of distinct kinds may be calculated 
upon with remarkable certainty, and half a dozen different 
species have been observed to pass up that river in one 
year. 

The hook-bill and silver or spring salmon are known 
to swim up a thousand miles from the mouth, battling 
successfully with the current, and pressing through swift 
canons, and over falls, impelled by the natural instinct to 
propagate. But while many of them succeed in depositing 
their spawn at the head waters of great rivers, not a few 
are exhausted in the struggle and die. An officer in the 
service of the Hudson's Bay Company, who resided on the 

* Put up in the form of sardines, hoolakan would soon become popular 
in Europe and America. 



166 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Columbia river (Oregon) for many years, states that on a 
sudden falling of the waters, the numbers of salmon left 
on the banks are so immense as to cause the river to 
stink for miles. 

The advent of the spring or silver salmon, which is the 
most valuable, because the most wholesome, occurs about 
the end of March or the beginning of April ; and in June it 
is caught in abundance. Its weight ranges from 4 to 72 lbs. 

The species which arrives between June and August 
is small and tender, averaging from 5 lbs. to 6 lbs. 

The third kind comes in August, and weighs 7 lbs. 

The humpback species appears every alternate year in 
August, and remains till winter. It is most suitably cured 
by drying and smoking. 

The hook-bill arrives in September, and is so called 
from having a bill like a parrot's. It has small sharp teeth. 
Its flesh is white, soft, and flabby, and, in the male, is alto- 
gether unpalatable. 

Salmon is one of the chief sources of Indian revenue. 
The natives are active in hawking it in the white settle- 
ments, and for Is. one may, any day during the season, 
purchase what in the sparsely supplied markets of England 
would cost two or three pounds sterling. The prices cur- 
rent of Melbourne show the cost of imported salmon pre- 
served in lb. tins to be from Is. 6d. to Is. 8d. per lb. (whole- 
sale). To a large firm going into the business of catching 
and exporting salmon in our part of the world, the cost of 
the stock would simply consist of the labour of fishing. Yet 
no house of importance has yet embarked in that lucrative 
enterprise. At certain times the canons (or gorges) of 
the rivers are so crowded with salmon, that the navigation 
of canoes is virtually impeded. The Indians catch them 
with a pole, attached to one end of which is a transverse 
piece of wood. Into this are stuck tenpenny nails. Lean- 



STURGEON — HALIBUT. 167 

ing over the gorge, they strike the nails into the fish, im- 
paling one or two at each descent of the pole. 

Trout are found in the waters of both colonies, and often 
weigh from 41bs. to 6 lbs. In the numerous lakes and streams 
of Vancouver island, as well as in those of British Columbia, 
trout are to be met with of excellent flavour and are caught 
in winter with the utmost ease. In Lake Okanagan they 
may be taken out with nets in wagon-loads, and by wading 
in the water one may catch them with the hand without dif- 
ficulty. A superior kind of trout abound in the lower Fraser, 
weighing 7 lbs. or 8 lbs., and another of a smaller descrip- 
tion in the tributaries of that river. Mr. Brown states that 
twenty mountain-trout were recently caught in a stream 
near Hope, whose aggregate weight was 146 lbs., and two 
of them weighed 11 lbs. each. 

In regard to the sturgeon, which is found in the rivers 
and lakes of British Columbia, the same gentleman informs 
us that it sometimes attains a weight of from lOOlbs. to 
500 lbs. and upwards. From a female sturgeon killed in 
the Fraser some time ago, a bushel of caviare was taken. 
From the swimming bladder of this fish, isinglass can be 
made, equal to . that so extensively shipped from the 
Eastern States of America. This portion of the fish is 
also used for fining malt liquor. Caviare manufactured 
from its roe is a favourite dish in Southern Eussia, and 
might be made an article of large export. 

Halibut are caught in immense numbers round the 
entire coast, but especially off the straits off Fuca. Their 
size is often enormous, and it is asserted by an officer 
of the Hudson's Bay Company that, in 48 hours' fishing, 
a vessel of 600 tons might be laden with them. 

The smelt, which enters the Fraser early in spring, may 
be captured in hundreds. 

The haddock and whiting exist, and the dog-fish teems 



168 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

beyond conception. Dr. Forbes reports that as much as 
2,000 gallons of oil have been obtained from this latter fish, 
in the season, by a very small tribe of Indians in Clayoquot 
Sound. Considerable quantities of this liquid are exported 
annually by the Hudson's Bay Company. 

A certain species of sea perch is found in abundance, 
often reaching from 61 lbs. to 81 lbs. in weight. 

Bock, skate, bass, anchovy, and flat fish, may be added 
to this list. 

Shrimps and prawns, too, are extensively caught in the 
neighbourhood of Victoria. 

Cod * banks are said to exist in Plumper's Pass and 
close to the north end of the island. 

A certain kind of seal is found at the mouth of Fraser 
Eiver. In summer it is constantly to be met with drifting 
clown with the current, seated on a log of wood. Another 
variety of this animal visits the coasts of Vancouver Island, 
and is shot by the Indians who trade in seal-skins. 

I have seen in the month of September whales innumer- 
able sporting in the Gulf of Georgia; but the most 
valuable species are found in more southerly latitudes. 
Specimens of oil from the whale, seal, dog-fish, and 
hoolakan were sent from the island to the Great Exhibition 
of 1862. 

The f right whale' f fishing ground in the North Pacific 
extends from lat. 30° N. The 'sperm' whaling ground 

* There is no cod in the waters of California, and a fishmonger in 
San Francisco told me that a ready market would be found in that city, at 
the rate of Is. per pound, for as much of this article as might be exported 
thither. 

t The Indians capture the whale with much ingenuity. Attached to 
their harpoon is a seal-skin, prepared so as to be air-tight. The head of the 
harpoon can be detached from the staff with a short rope made of cedar- 
bark. After the whale has been struck he soon makes his appearance above 
water, when the natives attack him with spears, and thus complete his 
destruction. 



FACILITIES FOE FISH-CURING. 169 

lies between lat. 20° S., and lat. 20° K From the latter 
point to our colony whalers would have a safe and easy run, 
with the favouring influence of trade winds and an open sea. 

The morse or walrus exists in denser profusion than in 
any part of the world, in the vicinity of the Alentian 
Islands and Behring Straits. This is a branch of the 
Pacific fisheries that would prove very remunerative from 
the amount of ivory it is capable of yielding. These places 
could be reached in fourteen days' sail from Vancouver 
Island. 

The facilities possessed by both these colonies for 
catching and curing fish are pre-eminent. The indented 
character of their coasts signally adapts them to become 
important in the exportation of this article. Port San 
Juan, Barclay Sound, Nootka, Hespod, Koskeemo, Sooke, 
Esquimalt, Victoria, Nanaimo, and many other bays may 
be enumerated, including the inlets on the coast of British 
Columbia, 450 miles long— all convenient to extensive 
fishing grounds, and peculiarly adapted for sheltered fishing 
stations. 

The present rendezvous of North Pacific whalers is San 
Francisco and Honolulu, because those following this occu- 
pation on our coasts are for the most part Americans. But 
when the same British enterprise that has developed the 
fisheries of the North Atlantic is introduced in this ocean, 
whaling fleets will make their head-quarters in British 
territory. 

The salt springs existing on Admiralty Island and at 
JSTanaimo, have already been referred to in this volume. 
A gallon of water from the latter place, when analysed, 
produced a pound of salt, while sea- water only yields 4^ 
ozs. The spring on the island is capable of supplying a 
gallon a minute, the specific gravity of the water being 
10-60. 



170 GENERAL RESOURCES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

What portion of the globe could be better situated for 
an export trade in fish, with respect to foreign markets ? 
To say nothing of California, with its rapidly increasing 
population, Mexico, Central America, and all the countries 
on the west coast of South America,* would immediately 
become customers were our fisheries entered upon with 
capital and vigour. European residents in China and 
Japan would swell the demand. The natives of these 
countries, who are proverbial for their consumption of 
dried and salted fish, would themselves gladly take from 
us as much as we could, for many years, conveniently 
dispose of. Nor is it unlikely that, as the commercial 
relations of these colonies with India become more 
intimate, large markets will spring up in that direction. 
Australia and New Zealand will not be able to provide for 
their wants in this particular for fifty years — probably 
never. These southern colonies, therefore, present another 
field for. the competition of future fish merchants in Van- 
couver Island and British Columbia. 

Notwithstanding the matchless inducements presented 
by the fishing wealth of this country to capitalists, scarcely 
a single individual or a company has as yet assayed to 
grasp the prize. 

The population of Newfoundland, which amounts to 
about 150,000, is sustained almost wholly by its fisheries. 
How magnificent must be the future of our colony of 
which the product now described is but one of manifold 
resources ! 

In proof of the importance attached by France to this 
source of national trade, it is well known that she pays 
from 530,000 frs. to 540,000 frs. a year to encourage it. 
Between 1820 and 1851 the Americans also paid 
#8,000,000 in bounties on fish, and the same policy is still 

* Catholic countries are said to be great consumers of fish. 



FISHEKIES ON THE ATLANTIC. 171 

pursued by them. To show the extent to which money is 
put in circulation by the fishing trade of the maritime 
provinces of British North America adjacent to the St. 
Laurence, it may be mentioned that the exports from these 
parts, beyond their own consumption offish, are valued at 
about eight and a half million dollars per annum. 

Newfoundland, 1862 .... #3,760,010 

Nova Scotia, 1860 3,094,499 

New Brunswick 750,000 

Prince Edward's Island .... 900,000 



#8,504,509 



172 



OHAPTEE VI. 

AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Remunerative Character of Agricultural Pursuits in the Colony — Climate — 
Soils — Farming Districts — Yield of Crops — Prices of Produce and Stock — 
Relation of the Free-Port System to the Question of Markets — Expense 
of Farm Labour — Times of Clearing, Sowing, Reaping, &c. — Terms of 
Agricultural Settlement* 

There is no branch of industry more strikingly neglected 
in this colony than agriculture. Yet it would be difficult 
to name an industrial pursuit more indispensable to colo- 
nial prosperity, or attended with larger ultimate remune- 
ration. The community can scarcely be said to have a 
basis of permanence while dependent so extensively on 
foreign neighbours, even for the common necessaries of 
life. The prevailing impression at a distance seems to be 
that our insular settlement is a forbidding aggregate of 
rock, mountain, swamp, and forest— almost unrelieved by 
a single patch of arable land — and that whatever insigni- 
ficant portions contain the elements of fertility, are so 
densely wooded as to render the task of clearing them at 
once unprofitable to capitalists, and impossible to those of 
narrower means* 

The hand of nature, it is admitted, has placed at human 
disposal, in this and the sister colony, a much smaller 
extent of bounteous soil, in proportion to gross area, than 
has been conferred upon the adjacent and more favoured 



CLASS OF FAKMERS WANTED. 173 

States of Oregon and California. But past explorations — 
and those now in progress in the interior, limited though 
the space gone over has been — -justify the persuasion that 
there are large tracts of land in the several districts of the 
island possessing qualities that would abundantly reward 
cultivation, and capable of sustaining a population of mil- 
lions. With the knowledge of these facts, taken in con- 
nection with contiguousness to large and growing markets, 
it seems strange that farmers — skilful and respectable, but 
not rich — in England, and also in other parts of the British 
empire, should be content to struggle on, with high rents 
and low prices, while so tempting an opportunity invites 
them to become owners of land at a small figure, with 
the assurance of a superior market for their products. 

For the class of farmers to which reference has just 
been made, I know of no field of agricultural enterprise 
offering advantages to be compared with those found in 
our Pacific colonies. Of Canada, and to some little extent 
of the United States, I can speak from personal observa- 
tion. From all I have heard of Australia and New Zealand, 
these southern colonies present no exception to the fore- 
going remark.* 

At the opening of an auriferous country, mining and 
commercial enterprises assume, of course, a bewitching 
character, especially from the prospect held out in these 
undertakings of large and immediate returns. It is not 
unnatural, therefore, that immigrants, incited by excep- 
tional instances of brilliant success, should betray the 
romantic desire of suddenly winning the smiles and gifts 
of fortune. But their impatience may well be restrained, 
and their expectations moderated, by contemplating the 

* The substance of the remarks which follow was published by me in the 
British Colonist some years ago in two successive leaders, and time has only 
confirmed the view to which I then gave expression. 



174 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

bitter truth that in mining and trading speculations, blanks 
have usually been the rule, and prizes the exception. 

It is not intended by this remark to insinuate that the 
country supplies feeble inducements to men whose inclina- 
tions and abilities qualify them to succeed in these depart- 
ments. But it may with confidence be affirmed that, 
where farming is conducted in Vancouver Island with a 
fair amount of skill, perseverance, and economy, a greater 
ratio of those who devote themselves to that branch of 
industry will, in a given term, attain comfort and inde- 
pendence, than of persons following any other sort of 
business. With the view of disarming the prejudice that 
has so signally retarded the extension of the farming in- 
terest in the country, and of supporting the statements 
that have been made, it is only necessary to solicit atten- 
tion to a few particulars which have not obtained the 
publicity they deserve. 

Climate. 

The climate of the island is rendered proverbially 
genial, productive, and salubrious, from an interesting 
variety of causes. The temperature of the Pacific coast 
generally is known to be much milder than that which 
obtains on the corresponding shores of the North Ameri- 
can Continent in the Atlantic. The isothermal line be- 
longing to latitude 40° in the latter ocean passes through 
the parallel of 55° in the former, thus rendering the climate 
of Fort Simpson equal to that of New York. For lucid 
illustrations of this principle, the reader is directed to 
consult the instructive work of Lieut. Maury, entitled, 
6 The Physical Geography of the Sea.' But the insular 
position of this colony, with other local circumstances, 
combine to secure for it a climate of singular equability 
and exemption from the somewhat more rigorous extremes 



CLIMATE. 175 

to which the exactly opposite coast in the Gulf of Georgia 
is subject. The experience of colonial residents bears 
uniform testimony in support of this statement. 

We have the authority of eminent meteorologists for 
the action of cold under-currents flowing from the Arctic 
Sea, which lave the rocky foundations of the island during 
the hot season, and exert their tempering influence far 
beyond high-water mark. The Olympian range of moun- 
tains in Washington Territory, extending in an easterly 
and westerly direction, regale the eye in the rich sunshine. 
The proximity of their grateful summits, capped with 
eternal snows, tends to modify what must otherwise be 
the intense heat of midsummer. The prevailing winds 
at that season come from the south, charged with warm 
moisture drawn from the sea, and oppress with sultriness 
the atmosphere of northern regions in most easterly longi- 
tudes. But, by contact with the neighbouring snowy 
heights, the humid element of these winds is condensed, 
and their excess of caloric absorbed, so that they are 
transmuted, as by a magic touch, into breezes 

Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes. 

A vast rush of warm water, supposed to originate at the 
equator, and producing climatical effects resembling those 
which result from the agency of the gulf stream in the 
Atlantic, softens the rigours of winter as the boreal action 
already described is believed to cool the scorching heat 
of summer. The phenomenon referred to is called the 
China current, from the fact of its sweeping, in part, that 
coast, on its curvilinear path across the ocean, to break 
upon the shores of Vancouver Island.* 

* Another of those currents makes its escape through the Straits of 
Malacca, and being joined by other warm streams from the Java and 
Chinese Seas, flows out into the Pacific, like another gulf stream, between 
the Philippines and the shore of Asia. Thence it attempts the great circle 



176 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

The temperature of the southern end of the island is 
also agreeably cooled in summer by the descent of freshets 
from Fraser river. These, it is hardly necessary to ob- 
serve, are caused by the melting of the snow on the 
distant mountains in the interior. So great a volume of 
cold water cannot be thus carried down into the gulf 
without considerably reducing the temperature of the 
waters with which it mingles, and making its influence to 
be felt along the opposite shores, to which it is borne in 
a south-westerly course. 

From observations taken daily in Victoria during the 
years 1860-61, at 9 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m., it appears 
that the lowest mean of the thermometer, in that period, 
occurred in the thirty-one days of December 1860, when 
the range of that instrument averaged 41° 22'. Twenty- 
nine days in July 1861, indicated the highest mean to be 
60° 97'. At intervals of from seven to ten years, how- 
ever, as in Great Britain, winters of unusual severity are 
experienced, when snow lies on the ground for a month 
or six weeks. But with the exception of these extra- 
ordinary periods, snow continues for little more than a 
week ; and sharp frosts extend over about a fortnight 
during the year. So mild is the cold season generally, 
that cattle can find enough food in the fields without 
special provision having to be made for their shelter and 
maintenance. 

Such an inclement season as has been named visited us 
in 1861-62, the year immediately following that in 
which a winter of corresponding severity occasioned in- 

route for the Aleutian islands, tempering climate, and losing itself in the 

sea on its route towards the north-west coast of America As with 

the gulf stream so with the China current The climates of the 

Asiatic coast correspond with those of America along the Atlantic, and 
those of Columbia, Washington, and Vancouver are duplicates of those of 
Western Europe and the British ^slands, — Phys. Geog. of the Sea, pp. 101, 162. 



METEOROLOGICAL FACTS. 177 

convenience to farmers in England. The effects of that 
extremely cold season reached as far down the coast 
as Southern California. The ice on the Eraser and Co- 
lumbia rivers was unusually long in breaking up, and 
the disappearance of it was succeeded by destructive 
floods, especially on the latter stream and on the Sacra- 
mento. 

The city of Sacramento was inundated, and agricultural 
interests damaged in Oregon and California by heavy 
losses of cattle and produce. 

The winter of 1863-64 was mild throughout. As this 
part of the subject is so important to intending settlers, 
with respect to considerations of health as well as to 
farming operations, let us take a past year at random 
to aid the reader in arriving at a satisfactory conclusion 
on the matter. A register kept at Victoria in 1850, cited 
by Dr. Forbes, E.N., shows that in that year 201 days 
were fine, 96 overcast and foggy, 97 rainy, and 17 on 
which snow fell. Still, it should be remembered, that 
under the two last heads all days are included on which 
even the smallest quantity of rain or snow fell. 

Dr. Eattray, E. K, attached to H.M.S. 'Topaze,' in 
Esquimalt Harbour, in 1860-61, carefully tabulated, for 
the use of the Admiralty, the state of the weather from 
the beginning of April to the end of March following 
in those years. Subjoined are the results of his la- 
bours : — 

No. of fine days 187 

„ wet days 17 

„ showery days 101 

„ foggy days r 17 

„ days with strong wind 35 

„ days with thermometer below freezing . . .11 

„ days in which snow fell 12 

N 



178 AGRICULTUEE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



Barometrical Observations in the same Year. 



Maximum 
Minimum 
Medium 
Monthly range 
Greatest daily range 



30-69 

29-19 

30-07 

1-50 

1-04 



' The greatest difference between the wet and dry bulb 
thermometers was 8|° (June) ; it has been observed as 
high as 13° (5th May 1861), and the least maximum 
difference 2^° (September).' From this comparison we 
infer that even in October, the wettest month in the regis- 
ter, the atmosphere was remarkably dry — a fact of great 
interest to persons suffering from chest complaints, and 
familiar with the raw, cutting damps common in the 
north of England in the beginning of winter. 

The wind columns in the tables of Dr. Eattray show a 
prevalence of calm mornings and evenings, while days 
wholly calm appear in the proportion of 1 in 10. The 
average force of the wind for the year was 1^, the highest 
being 9. Distributed over twelve months the mean force 
would scarcely amount to a light breeze. 

Out of eighty-three days, in which the wind was per- 
ceptible in any degree, southerly winds (chiefly S.W.) 
occurred fifty-six days= 67*47 per cent. ; northerly, eleven 
= 13*25 per cent; easterly, six = 7*2 3 per cent.; westerly, 
six ==7*23 per cent. ; variable, four. High winds are most 
frequent in April, and blow from the south and south- 
west. Winds from the north are rarely strong, even in 
winter ; but westerly winds, when they rise, blow with 
violence. As might be supposed, winds accompanied 
with rain are generally from the south. Traversing the 
vast Pacific in their course, they readily absorb a large 
quantity of moisture. 

In these observations, taken at Esquimalt, allowance 



CLIMATE COMPARED WITH CANADA. 



179 



should be made for the more damp character of that 
place as compared with Victoria, the former being 
situated in a more hilly part of the island. 

As the impression widely obtains that the climate of 
the colony resembles in severity that of Canada, it may 
not be uninteresting to demonstrate by the statistics be- 
fore me the injustice done us by this error : — 



Highest Thermometer during the Year 


Lowest Thermometer 
during the Year 


Annual Range 
of Temperature 


Vancouver Island, 1860-1861 . 72° 

Canada 102° 

London 86° 


23 i° 

36° (below zero) 

22° 


481° 
138° 
64° 



Victoria being in nearly the same latitude with the 
south of England, comparison of their respective climates 
can be at once appreciated by inhabitants of Great 
Britain. In Vancouver Island spring is later, summer 
drier, autumn longer, and winter milder. 

In London in a given year a writer on climate records 
178 days in which rain fell. In Victoria during 1860-61 
the number of rainy days was under 118. The same 
author gives the annual mean height of the barometer in 
London for the same year at 29*895, and the range for 
the year at 1*998 ; while in the south of Vancouver Island 
1860-61, the mean height was 30*07, and the range for the 
year 1*890 * 

From October to March we are liable to frequent rains, 
but this period of damp is ever and anon relieved by 
prolonged intervals of bright, dry weather. In March, 
winter gives signs of taking its departure, and the warm 



* I am under obligation to Admiral Fitzroy of the Board of Trade for 
permitting me to examine the Meteorological Register of H.M.S. 'Hecate/ 
which was employed in a surveying expedition on the coasts of Vancouver 

n 2 



180 



AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



breath of spring begins to cover the trees with tinted 
buds and the fields with verdure. Then become visible 
the star-eyed and delicately-blue collinsia, the chaste ery- 
thronium, the scarlet-blossomed lilies, and the graceful 
trillium ; the spring grass and young fern show promise 
of returning life ; the unfolding oak leaf and budding 
wild fruits proclaim that winter is gone. 

The sensations produced by the aspect of nature in 
May are indescribably delightful. The freshness of the 
air, the warble of birds, the clearness of the sky, the pro- 
fusion and fragrance of wild roses, the wide-spread varie- 
gated hues of buttercups and daisies, the islets and inlets, 
together with distant snow-peaks bursting upon the view, 
as one ascends some contiguous eminence, combine, in 
that month, to fill the mind with enchantment unequalled 
out of Paradise. I know gentlemen who have lived in 
China, Italy, Canada, and England ; but after a residence 
of some years in Vancouver Island, they entertained a 
preference for the climate of the colony which approached 
affectionate enthusiasm. 

At the end of June vegetation reaches its annual 
maturity. Its growth in that and the preceding month is 
peculiarly rapid. Showers are rare during summer, and 



Island and British Columhia in 1862, the winter of which year was the 
coldest experienced in the colonies for a very long period. 





Barometer 


Wind 




Ther. 


Dry 
Bulb 


Damp 
Bulb 


Direction 


Force 


Coldest day, Jan. 15 j „ £'.?' 

[8 A.M. 

Hottest day, Aug. 27 ■] 

[8 P.M. 


10° 
12° 

74° 

69° 


10° 

9° 

66° 

66° 


Northerly 

Calm 
Westerly 

Calm 


4 






30-45 
42-31 
Ther. at 
noon. 
99 87 



HEALTH OF THE POPULATION. 181 

when they do fall they are accommodating enough to 
come at night, when no one is inconvenienced by their 
descent. In compensation for uniformly fair weather, we 
have heavy dews, which cause the warmest days to be 
followed by cool nights ; consequently a blanket is found 
acceptable in a part of the year when in England and 
Canada it would be intolerable. 

The protracted dryness of summer often imparts to the 
soil a parched appearance, but it is rather- pasture lands 
than crops that suffer from this influence. The refresh- 
ing showers of autumn, however, lasting till the middle of 
November, clothe the grass a second time with verdure, 
which it retains till after Christmas. The later part of 
the fall is known as the Indian summer. 

While treating of climate in connection specially with 
agriculture, I take the opportunity which may not occur 
again in this volume, of glancing at the bearing of the 
subject upon health. 

No statistics of the ailments and mortality of the 
population have thus far been kept, but from the nature 
of the public duties belonging to my profession I was 
favourably situated for forming a correct opinion on these 
points. Those extremes of climate which, in the eastern 
and middle sections of the American continent and also 
in Australia, tend to absorb the juices of the system and 
render the complexion sallow, are absent in the colony, 
as in England, from the happy proportion of humidity 
incident to its insular character. The children of whites 
born in the country, and brought up with a reasonable 
amount of care, are distinguished by a remarkably plump 
and ruddy appearance. Epidemics are uncommon ; and 
most of the diseases I have witnessed have been brought 
on by imprudence in the way of exposure or excess. 
Eheumatic and bronchitic affections are sometimes to be 



182 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

found, but are almost entirely confined to constitutions 
previously debilitated. Catarrh prevails in the moist 
weather of October and November. But speaking from 
personal experience, I am able to state that I never en- 
joyed more vigorous health in my life than during five 
years' residence in Vancouver Island. While living in 
England, never a winter passed without my being pros- 
trated by repeated attacks of influenza ; and though 
domestic conveniences were necessarily limited at so early 
a stage of colonial progress, I only suffered once in the 
colony from that cause. 

There is no naval station at which the crews of H. M. 
ships are so little subject to disease proceeding from cir- 
cumstances of climate, and none where mortality is so 
light. 

I know no locality so admirably suited for ex-Indian 
officers and merchants to retire to — a class to which 
climate, in their advanced age, is a primary consideration. 

Spite, 

It would have been advantageous to the interests of 
agriculture had the upheaval of the island above the 
surface of the ocean taken place at a much earlier geologi- 
cal period. From the unerring intimations of geology, 
in the character and distribution of its soils, we infer its 
recent elevation by volcanic agency. 

The character of the soil varies in the different districts. 
That which preponderates on the higher levels is of a poor 
gravelly description, with a thin layer of vegetable 
mould, and covered by gigantic timber. This quality of 
soil exhibits deposits of northern drift which had ac- 
cumulated in certain sections of the country while the 
land remained submerged — these places being just saved 
from absolute sterility by decayed foliage and grasses 



SOILS. 18 



o 



that have for ages been shed to cover their nakedness. 
Had a few more decades of centuries happened to 
elapse subsequently to the emerging of the island, and 
before civilisation was directed hither, there can be no 
doubt that the kind of soil referred to would have been 
immensely improved. But it is not unknown in England 
and Canada that gravelly soil, unmatched for poverty by 
any in this island, has, by an admixture of clay and 
manure, been made equal to soils containing naturally 
most fertile qualities — the former element imparting 
tenacity for the retention of heat and moisture, and the 
latter creating a loamy ingredient. 

Eich sandy loams are extensively found in the farming 
sections ; but usually, as might be expected, in valleys — 
ancient lake or river 'bottoms,' and slopes of various dimen- 
sions. This quality of soil is formed by the disintegration 
and decomposition of limestone and other rocks in con- 
nection with different forms of aqueous action ; and when 
united, as it always is more or less, with decayed vege- 
table matter — which gives it a black or dark brown colour 
— it is excellently adapted for producing vegetables and 
every species of cereal. Clay chiefly constitutes the sub- 
soil of the island, and from its tenacious nature neces- 
sitates careful draining of the particular deposits which 
rest upon it. In a district about a dozen miles from 
Victoria I have seen a single prairie containing not less 
than 400 acres of clear land where the alluvial soil, con- 
sisting mainly of black loam, was at least a couple of feet 
thick. 

One of the most eminent British geologists has some- 
where said that remarkably fertile soil is formed by the 
disintegration of volcanic rock, and that their component 
elements, — iron, alumina, potash, silica, &c. — are in the 
proportions best suited for vegetation. From the metallic 



184 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

discoveries continually coming to light in all parts of the 
island, as well as from the actual yield of crops, we are 
receiving unmistakable evidence of the productiveness of 
the soil, especially in the valleys. 

Agricultural Districts. 

The following comprehensive statement of the Crown 
lands sold, unsold, reserved, and pre-empted in the colony 
up to December 1863, appears in the report of a com- 
mittee appointed by the House of Assembly to investigate 
certain claims held in dispute between the Hudson's Bay 
Company and the Crown : — 

1. The total number of acres in the colony, including every 
kind and quality of land, with the small islands belonging to 
Vancouver Island, is estimated at 7,598,215 acres, or 11,872 
square miles. 

2. The quantity of land sold in the 18 surveyed districts is 
74,196 acres. 

3. The quantity of land pre-empted in the surveyed and 
unsurveyed districts is 88,309 acres. 

4. The unsold and unpre-empted land in each surveyed dis- 
trict is 92,264 acres. 

5. There are 30 public reserves in the surveyed and settled 
districts, which contain 18,814 acres, besides which there are 
several small islands, of the acreage of which there is no estimate. 
There are 3 town lots in Government Street (Victoria), one at 
the foot of Broughton Street, and one 80 feet by 100 in Nanaimo. 

6. From the foregoing statement it appears that the total 
quantity of Crown land unsold, including the reserves for the 
use of the colony, is 7,435,710 acres; and that the total amount 
of land sold and pre-empted is 162,505 acres. 

It should not be forgotten that this calculation embraces 
a considerable extent of rock and swamp unfit for culti- 
vation. 

The late Surveyor-General of the colony states that in 



AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS. 185 

the immediate vicinity of Victoria 100,000 acres of. valu- 
able farming land exist. This, however, is all in private 
hands. Colonel Grant, for several years a settler in 
Sooke, gives it as his opinion that out of five square miles 
in that district there is a moderate proportion of open 
land, ' the remainder tolerably level woodland.' One of 
the explorers of the gold mines recently brought under 
notice in that locality, reports that near the junction of 
Leech and San Juan rivers there is a good field for 
agricultural operations — the concourse of miners sup- 
plying a convenient market for stock and produce. 
There are several large farms in the adjoining district 
of Metchosin, which I can testify, from observation, 
are in a prosperous condition. The bulk of the land 
in that neighbourhood, however, is most adapted for 
pasture. 

In the Saanich peninsula, which contains an area of 
37 square miles, there are at least 200 settlers, including 
women and children. These severally occupy farms 
ranging from 50 to 1,500 acres, and their holdings con- 
tain a high proportion of clear land, combining calcareous 
and arenacious properties, together with humus — these 
soils resting generally on a clayey but sometimes on 
a gravelly stratum. Oats, timothy, barley, wheat, all the 
green crops, and every sort of garden fruit, grow there in 
great perfection. 

The portions of Cowichan, Comiaken, Quamichan, 
Somenos, and Shawingan surveyed three years ago were 
57,658 acres, of which 45,000 are deemed superior in 
quality, and the remaining 7,600 good for the general 
objects of agriculture. But the Surveyor-General esti- 
mates the extent of available land in Cowichan at 
100,000 acres. 

I am firmly persuaded (says the Assistant-Surveyor) that, under 



186 AGEICULTUKE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

a judicious system of farming, as good returns can be obtained 
from these lands as in any part of the continent of America. 
. . . The loamy soils possess everywhere a depth of two or three 
feet, and containing a large proportion of the calcareous principle, 
are especially eligible for fruit culture; and the oak-plains 
around the Somenos and Quamichan Lakes, with a sandy clay 
sub-soil, are exceedingly well adapted for fruit or garden 
purposes. 

He then enumerates a large variety of native fruits which 
he found growing wild on the meadow lands. 

There may be already settled in these places over 100 
persons, so that numerous sections are still unpre-empted, 
and it is affirmed that a sufficient amount of good land 
exists in them to provide farms for many hundreds of 
families. 

In the vicinity of those connected districts is Admiralty 
Island, better known as Salt Spring Island, from briny 
springs which it contains. Its area is 90 square miles. 
This district, already inhabited by 70 or 80 settlers, 
boasts much excellent land, which is being brought under 
cultivation as rapidly as their narrow means will permit. 
Many other fertile dependencies of Vancouver in the 
gulf only await the application of industry to render 
them productive. 

The land around Nanaimo is divided into four portions 
— the Mountain, Cranberry and Cedar districts, and the 
Delta plains — the extent of which together is put by 
the surveyor who measured them at 43,450 acres. In 
reference to the second of these that gentleman reports : 
6 The soil is sandy, but covered with the most luxuriant 
vegetation, fern, wild fruit, bushes, and trees ; among 
which, it may be noted, the crab-apple and cherry are 
everywhere found. The woods are, for the most part, 
open and free from brushwood and fallen timber, and 
present quite a tropical appearance.' Of the Cedar dis- 



comox. 187 

trict but a small part is unfit for cultivation. • The soil is 
very fertile . . . and abounds in beautiful springs of water.' 

In 1861 Commander Mayne, E.N., in crossing from 
Alberni on the west to Nanaimo on the east, saw a large 
tract of land which he pronounces admirably adapted for 
settlement, between Qualicome and Nanoose on the east 
side. He states that the soil was quite equal to that in 
the already settled district of Saanich. ' We found,' says 
he, ' a great deal of excellent land in the valley of the 
Nanoose Eiver, which flows from the southward into the 
head of Nanoose harbour ; so that I am able to affirm 
that the whole country between the Qualicome Eiver and 
Nanaimo is fair and in parts excellent.' 

The region of the Courtenay Eiver, which empties 
itself into Augusta Bay at the head of Baynes Sound, is 
perhaps the most promising spot for settlement yet found 
in the island. This district is called Comox * (or Komoux), 
and is said to contain not less than 30 square miles of 
good farming land. Commander Mayne remarks on this 
scene of his explorations : ' Although we had been in- 
formed that there was some fine land there, the extent 
and beauty of what we saw quite surprised us.' 

* The following is an extract from a communication written by a settler 
in this district with reference to the harvest of 1864. l The crops in the 
settlement have been excellent this season, the farmers being well contented 
with their returns. Oats, barley, wheat, peas, and potatoes are the chief 
products. Oats have yielded as much as sixty bushels to the acre. One of 
the settlers, who has about six acres under cultivation, has raised over thirty 
tons of potatoes, a ton and a half of turnips, a large quantity of garden 
vegetables, and a small crop of splendid oats, beside wheat and peas. He 
also cut over thirty tons of hay, sixteen tons of which were sold on the 
groimd at $15 per ton. He has nine head of cattle, including three milch 
cows, twenty hogs, and fifty chickens raised this year. From his three cows 
he made this season over 2001bs. of butter, for which he gets 37i cents per 
lb. at the settlement.' This person has only been two years in Comox, and 
is a fair example of what may be done by any industrious man without 
capital. 



188 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

The stream referred to for about a mile is navigable 
for large boats -and small stem- wheel steamers. At this 
point it is joined by a river called Puntluch, which flows 
from the south-west through a deep valley, taking its 
rise probably in the great central lake, whence also 
emanates the Somass Eiver, that mingles on the west side 
of the island with the waters of the Alberni Canal. Just 
above the junction of the Puntluch and the Courtenay, 
on the left bank of the latter, the traveller finds himself 
in the heart of an immense prairie, extending in a north- 
westerly direction parallel with the coast for eight or ten 
miles. This important tract is abundantly watered by 
the Courtenay and some smaller tributaries. A dense 
wood surrounds the prairie, offering every facility for the 
purposes of fire and building. ' It took us,' says the naval 
gentleman cited above, ' a day and a half to walk over 
this land, through which a plough might be driven from 
end to end. ... I have no doubt that more good land 
will be found to lie between this point and the valley of 
the Salmon Eiver, which is 60 miles north of it.' On the 
west bank of the Courtenay the soil is quite as good as 
on the east. 7,000 or 8,000 acres of clear land are known 
to exist there. 

Twenty-five miles above Johnstone Strait is Salmon 
Eiver, and there is every probability of finding — when 
the country is examined — large patches of land in its 
neighbourhood well adapted for agricultural settlement. 

Adam's Eiver, a stream of considerable size, waters a 
large valley which contains much good land. This spot 
is about sixteen miles above Salmon Eiver, and five or six 
miles beyond Port Neville on the opposite side. 

Mr. Hamilton Moffat, in 1852, crossed the north part 
of the island diagonally from Nimpkish Eiver to Nootka 
Sound, and he is the only white man that, up to this date, 



PLENTY OF LAND. 189 

has ever performed that feat. In the journal of his ex- 
ploratory tour, we are informed that in the vicinity of 
Lake Kanus, in the course of the Nimpkish, the country 
he passed through was ' clear, with occasional belts of 
wood and brush, and abounding in partridges.' But it 
must necessarily be long before land distant from the 
coast will be settled upon, unless the discoveries of the 
precious and baser metals now taking place in rapid suc- 
cession in certain parts of the colony should call into 
existence towns and villages, and thus afford a market for 
farmers. 

Judging from the successful results of past exploration 
along the 150 miles of coast on the east side we are 
already acquainted with, there is every reason to believe 
that considerable quantities of fine land will yet be met 
with, as the examination of the island advances, capable 
of sustaining a large industrious population. 

Apart from the lucrative market presented by the grow- 
ing city of Victoria and the coal depot of Nanaimo, the 
thrifty settler possesses an advantage unrivalled in any 
colony in the Atlantic or the South Pacific. I refer to 
the abundance of elk, deer, and wild-fowl with which our 
forests abound, and the incredible profusion of fish that 
inhabit our lakes and streams. 

Only a few scores of persons have, up to this time, 
found their way to the inviting districts north of Saanich 
and Cowichan ; so that it is in the power of thousands 
of hardy pioneers, determined to master preliminary diffi- 
culties, proceeding thither without delay, to obtain choice 
tracts for settlement. If they can command 100/. or more 
on their arrival, to set their farms a-going, so much the 
better. Let them not murmur if, for a time, they may 
have to bear inconvenience, as far as frequent and speedy 



190 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

communication with Victoria is concerned. This priva- 
tion will only be transient, and must soon disappear in 
the course of colonial development. 

If any intending emigrant apprehend troubles from the 
Indians, it may be stated, for the relief of his anxiety, 
that these are generally magnified by the imagination of 
the inexperienced, and are at once divested of the alarm- 
ing character supposed to attach to them, when the settler 
comes face to face with the aborigines. Another chapter 
will show, indeed, that, in common with savages elsewhere, 
they occasionally evince thievish and treacherous propen- 
sities. But it is only simple justice to confess, that in most 
feuds between them and the whites, provocation is given 
by the latter. If in our dealings with them we are actuated 
by firmness, kindness, and integrity, there is little to fear 
from their presence. That they have sometimes been 
guilty of acts of wanton deception and unprovoked cruelty 
toward colonists, must be admitted ; but as past outrages 
have made the authorities vigilant in the detection, and 
severe in the punishment, of their crimes, the natives are 
certain to become less and less dangerous. As the tribes 
have been so fiercely alienated from each other, and en- 
gaged in internecine wars for ages, no such conspiracies 
could ever be organised by them against the whites as 
have been plotted by the Sioux of America, or the Maories 
of New Zealand. In fact, as tribes, they are universally 
well-disposed toward our race. 

Emigrants coming at this early stage of colonial growth, 
ignorant of the amount of land held by companies and 
private individuals for a considerable period, expect, per- 
haps, to be able to select for purchase sections within easy 
distance of Victoria on merely nominal terms; and are 
consequently surprised to find farms, partially under cul- 



LAND INCREASING IN VALUE. 191 

tivation, valued at a figure so much higher than they had 
anticipated. The Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Com- 
panies, with certain officials of those companies, in their 
private capacity, own in different districts an aggregate of 
at least 15,000 acres of land, the price of which, several 
years previous to the present law of pre-emption being 
passed, was 11. per acre. If, however, the varied mining 
resources of this and the sister colony continue to develop 
favourably, as they give full promise of doing, Victoria 
will unquestionably expand into a vast entrepot A prac- 
tical farmer with some capital, therefore, who succeeds 
in buying from the present proprietor, with a view 
to settlement, 400 or 500 acres of land, anywhere 
within fifteen miles of Victoria, tolerably open and par- 
tially improved, at from 10Z. to 4:1. per acre, according 
to distance from town, may esteem himself fortunate. 
Before us is the analogy supplied by Melbourne and San 
Francisco, likewise emporia for gold-bearing countries. 
Around these cities land has in the last twelve or fourteen 
years risen in value several scores of pounds per acre ; 
and it is certain that money invested in districts con- 
venient to Victoria will, in a similar period to come, be 
multiplied a dozen-fold. In proportion as the area of 
agricultural land adjacent to the city is limited — that is 
to say, in view of the large supplies which that market 
will eventually require— so will be the great value which 
land of good quality will attain. It would be a benefit 
to the colony, as well as to a certain class of our farmers — 
some poor and others thriftless, under whom rich lands 
are lying comparatively waste — if they could be super- 
seded by enterprising and intelligent men, who would 
offer the farmer a fair consideration to quit. Nor would 
this course be otherwise than advantageous to the new 
occupants. 



192 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

The comparatively limited extent of land fit for culti- 
vation in the island has sometimes been adduced as an 
argument against encouraging the immigration of poor 
settlers. But if the statistics brought forward above be 
correct, no country on earth can compete with it in secur- 
ing comfort to the laborious farmer. Amateur ' gentle- 
men' farmers are strictly cautioned against risking their 
means in agricultural speculations here. Unless men can 
either work themselves, or apply careful and experienced 
supervision to the labours of employes — having at the 
same time large means to expend — they are distinctly 
advised not to emigrate as tillers of the soil. But it will 
be time enough to raise this objection about scarcity of 
land when all that is available on both sides of the gulf 
has been turned to account. While it must be acknow- 
ledged that the future prosperity of both these colonies 
depends, for the most part, on their metalliferous cha- 
racter — not losing sight, however, of the special commer- 
cial advantages of Vancouver Island — still, the assertion 
may be hazarded that they contain sufficient arable land 
to sustain whatever population may devote their energies 
to agricultural occupations for hundreds of years. Be- 
sides, the limited extent of land in the country which is 
alleged (allowing, for the sake of argument, that the asser- 
tion were true), enhances the inducements offered to those 
who are wilhng to come early into the field. 

Demand for any article which is scarce augments its 
value ; and on the supposition of our mineral resources 
being so abundant as eventually to build up important 
and permanent centres throughout the country, large and 
profitable markets will be furnished to agricultural pro- 
ducers near their doors. Moreover, the very paucity of 
cultivatable land, within easy reach of a town, would, 
under these circumstances, necessarily give proprietors 



YIELD OF CROPS. 193 

entire command of the market, thus placing them above 
competition with farmers further off, and raising, in a 
corresponding degree, the value of their land. 

These remarks, it may be mentioned here, find present 
verification in British Columbia ; and as cities of yet greater 
magnitude than those now in existence rise up in that 
colony, it will become increasingly evident that farmers 
in their vicinity possess an advantage over all competitors 
in the same occupation in the neighbouring American 
territory, whose products, imported to the British side of 
the border, would be heavily chargeable with freight, to 
say nothing of duties. 

The extreme western districts of the United States and 
Canada are sometimes pointed to, and a contrast instituted 
between the vast prairies for which these parts are extolled 
in relation to our more circumscribed and less bounteous 
soil. But it should be considered that the value of land 
situated so inconveniently to market as in the case just 
referred to is proportionately low, and the crops unremu- 
nerative. If, therefore, Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia advance as rapidly as we anticipate, a farmer 
in these colonies will realise a competency more quickly 
than he could, with the same means, in the other districts 
of the continent that have been specified. These results 
cannot, of course, be brought about in a clay ; and only 
those emigrants are invited to cast in their lot with us 
who are prepared to exercise that amount of energy and 
endurance requisite to secure the promised reward. 

Average Yield of Crops, fyc. 

A medical gentleman, whose lengthened residence in 
the colony and special enquiry into this department of 
farming statistics gives weight to his statements, writes : — 
' The average production of wheat is 25 to 30 bushels to 

o 



194 



AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



the acre, 64 lbs. to the bushel ; of oats, 40 bushels to the 
acre — weight, 36 lbs. to 46 lbs. ; potatoes, 200 bushels to 
the acre, and of superior quality. All vegetables succeed 
much better in Vancouver than in Oregon or Washington 
Territory.' This remark applies also to butter. The 
potatoes grown in the colony cannot be equalled, and our 
turnips, carrots, onions, peas, cabbages, &c, cannot be 
surpassed, for size and flavour, in any part of the world. 
- The following,' says Dr. Forbes, ' are the usual quantities 
of seed sown per acre : Of wheat, one and a half bushels ; 
peas, two and a half bushels ; vetches, two and a half. 
The yield of barley varies, according to the cultivation of 
the land, from 24 to 40 bushels per acre.' 

The following table, prepared by Dr. Eattray, exhibits 
the yield per acre of land in Vancouver Island as compared 
with that in England, Ireland, and Scotland : — 













Weight per 




England 


Scotland 


Ireland 


Vancouver 
Island 


bushel in V. 
Island (esti- 


Wheat . . 










mated). 


4 qrs. 


31 qrs. 


3 qrs. 


4 qrs. 


62 lbs. 


Barley . . 


4i 

^2 ■>■) 


5 „ 


4 . » 


4i 

*2 » 


50 „ 


Oats . . . 


5 „ 


6 „ 


"*2 V 


43 


38 „ 


Potatoes . 


64 „ 


60 „ 


— 


25 „ 




Peas . . . 


3f„ 


3 „ 


3 ;, 


3i * 

°2 V 




Turnips . . 


20 tons 


25 tons 


25 tons 


15 tons 




Clover (cut 












green) . 


6„ 


5 „ 


7 „ 


4 ,, 




Gardens 


25 fold 


25 fold 


30 fold 


25 fold 




Tares . . 


f30 to 
\ 40 tons 
[ (green) 


35 tons 
(green) 


33 tons 
(green) 


35 tons 
(green) 





Hops thrive in the colony, and find a ready sale among 
brewers, whose operations are lucrative and extensive. 
Flax also would become a profitable article of production, 

* At the Agricultural Exhibition held in Vancouver Island in October 
last, peas were shown weighing 72| lbs. to the bushel. 



STOCK. 195 

provided we had flax-mills at work and were prepared to 
extract oil from the seed. This, after its contents have 
been expressed, is converted, in Canada and elsewhere, 
into a cake, which is said to be highly nutritious as food 
for cattle. 

Stock. 

Five-sixths of all the stock used in the country is still 
imported from California, Oregon, and Washington Terri- 
tory, and large profits are often realised from its importa- 
tion. Profits have, therefore, to be paid by the consumer 
in Vancouver Island to grazier, importer, and retailer. I 
have known persons bring horses from California to supply 
men about to start for the mines, invest in the transaction 
200/., and net 45/. from the sale of the animals within six 
weeks from taking their passage for that American State. 
In a similar way have I known an enterprising cattle- 
dealer lay out in California 300/. upon oxen, sheep, &c, 
for Victoria, and within a few weeks place to his credit 
150/. as the result. For success in this business much 
depends upon practical knowledge. 

Among American horned cattle are to be found some 
excellent breeds. Durhams and Devons have been in 
California for many years. Spanish cattle abound on the 
coast, and are good beeves, though of a small description. 

The Californian sheep have long horns and thick wool, 
and, when crossed with Southdowns in the island, the 
breed is much improved. 

Horses can be had in California in almost every variety, 
from the thorough-bred racer to the most miserable hack. 
The Holland or Clydesdale breed, however, are not often 
to be met with. 

A quantity of native horses are imported occasionally 
from the Sandwich Islands ; and in proof of how admirably 
the colony suits them, it may be stated that some of these, 

o 2 



196 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

fetching only 10/. per head when they arrive, get to be 
worth, after being put to grass for a time, from 25/. to 30/. 

Oxen are generally used for ploughing and other kinds 
of heavy farm-work, and are in growing demand. 

Mares increase at the rate of 75 per cent., cows 90 per 
cent, (weight 375 lbs.), sheep 100 per cent, (weight 50 
lbs.), hogs 1,000 per cent, (weight 150 lbs.). 

Fern-roots, which teem in the island, afford staple food 
for the last-named of these animals. But to keep them 
tame and prevent them from being lost in the woods, they 
should have a stated feed of peas once or twice a day. 
Pork is a favourite dish with the Chinese, and, as it is 
also the chief sort of animal food in use among the mining 
population, it always commands a high price. A list of 
agricultural imports on a succeeding page will give an 
idea of how little has yet been done in the rendering of 
ourselves independent of foreigners for the supply of this 
article. A rare opportunity is here offered to skilful 
Yorkshiremen, familiar with the art of curing bacon, for 
making a fortune. 

The small area of Vancouver Island does not admit of 
grazing being carried on on so immense a scale as that 
branch of agriculture in the colonies of the southern 
hemisphere, where thousands of acres of pasture-land 
have been bought for a trifling consideration. But in the 
larger adjacent colony of British Columbia facilities exist 
for the breeding of cattle to an indefinite extent. 

Prices. 

The most hasty inspection of the prices obtained for 
some kinds of produce, and particularly for stock, is 
sufficient to create excitement in the prosecution of island 
farming, as the gold of Cariboo has attracted mining 
adventurers. 



TEICES OF PRODUCE. 197 

Hay sells at from hi. to 6/., and rose during the spring 
of 1862, after a severe winter, to 16/. per ton. New 
potatoes fetch 3d. per lb. retail ; wheat has been sold in 
the colony at 8s., and oats at 6s. per bushel. The large 
yields of wheat in California and Oregon, and the frequent 
shipments of flour from those States to Victoria, make com- 
petition difficult on the part of our farmers for the moment, 
in these commodities. But the establishment of grist-mills 
at distances convenient to the farming settlements would 
place colonial producers, with respect to this article of 
import, in as favourable a position as they could desire. 
Fat oxen are worth from 30Z. to iOL per yoke ; cured 
bacon, which sells in the Atlantic States at from 5d. to 6<i., 
and in Oregon at from 6d. to 7\d. per lb., readily brings 
in Victoria from l\d. to Sd., and from S\d. to 10<i. per 
lb. respectively. The retail price of beef is 1(M, and of 
mutton Is. per lb. Butter that in the Atlantic States costs 
from 7\d. to 10<i. per lb.,* and in California from lOd. 
to Is. h\d. per lb., is sold in the island, retail, at from 
Is. lOd. to 2s. Id. per lb. Island butter (fresh) can be 
disposed of to any extent, and sells retail at from 2s. Id. 
to 3s. per lb. Island eggs, in the most abundant season, 
are sold (retail) at 2s. 7d. per dozen, and, if imported, at 
25. Id. per dozen. I have known the latter article sold 
at Christmas as high as 65. per dozen. 

In the Victoria ' Prices Current and Shipping List,' 
under the head ' Grain,' is the following list of goods, with 
the prices affixed : — 

Cents 

Wheat — California .... per lb. 3 

Barley „ „ 4| 

Oats — Colonial .... ? , 3 

„ California . ' . . 7 , 4 

* These American prices are according to the gold and not the greenback 
standard; and apply to times of peace. 



198 



AGRICULTUEE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



Peas — whole . 
„ split . 
Beans — Bayos, California 

„ white „ 

„ Chill . 

„ pink . 



Under the head of 6 provisions : 





Cents 


rib. 


5 


» 


7 


V 


3 


V 


H 


11 


3 


n 


3 



Beef — Mess, California 
Eastern . 
American 



Pork 



„ clear 

„ Hamburg 

Hams— English, per lb. clear 
halfbbls. . 



Oregon 



per bbl. 



halfbbl. 



$S @ 10 

8 „ 10 

22 „ 24 

16 „ 18 

28 



„ Billings . 
Bacon — Sides, extra clear, Eastern 
California 



Butter — Isthmus 

„ Oregon 

Cheese* — English 
Lard — American, 101b. tins 

„ „ kegs 



Oregon 



per lb. 



ents Cents 
25 @ 


25 , 





22 , 





25 , 


28 


16 , 


18 


22 , 





22 , 


25 


47 , 


50 


37 , 





18 , 


25 


16 , 


, 20 


19 , 






We are supplied with fresh milk at the rate of 2s. Id. 
per gallon in summer. In winter the price is higher. 
For some time after my arrival in the colony it cost 4s. 2d. 
per gallon. 

To those who are prepared to embark in farming, 
having capital sufficient to engage in this pursuit exten- 
sively, my advice would be that they should make their 
green crops subservient mainly to the feed of stock, and 
lay out as large a portion of their land in timothy grass 
as possible, as returns from hay and cattle are always 
certain and remunerative. In these items, together with 



* The manufacture of this product is as yet unknown among us. 






PEODUCE IMPORTED. 



199 



butter, fowls, and eggs, competition with foreign supplies 
need never be feared. 

Some beautiful orchards have been already planted in 
the island, varying in size from 25 to 5 acres. Apples, 
pears, plums, cherries, and all the bush-fruits of England, 
grow in great perfection. A gentleman in Oregon, who 
has an orchard of ten acres, seven years old, informed me 
that it netted him 1,000/., or at the rate of 100/. per acre 
per annum. There is no reason why an orchard of the 
same age in the colony, if duly attended to, should not 
realise to the proprietor at least 130/. per acre per annum. 

Amount of Agricultural Produce Imported into the Colony. 

To demonstrate how powerful are the inducements held 
out to industrious and intelligent farming immigrants in 
the colony, I subjoin statistics of various agricultural pro- 
ducts imported into Victoria in 1863. I have prepared 
the statement with care from the general return of imports 
for the year : — 



Article 






Value 


Bacon . 


#63,211 


Barley . 






44,230 


Beef . 






8,559 


Bran . 






9,671 


Beans . 






16,068 


Butter* 
Bread . 






66,231 
5,463 


Cattle . 
Eggs . 
Flour . 
Fruit . 






3,217 

5,924 

172,521 

10,377 


Carried 


ibrwa 


rd 


405,472 



Article 

Brought forward 
Hams . 
Hay « 
Hops i 
Hogs . 
Horses* 
Oats 
Pork . 
Potatoes 
Salt . 
Sheep . 
Vegetables 

Total value 



Value 

405,472 

2,981 

13,506 

16,896 

9,170 

38,364 

13,039 

6,304 

7,736 

323 

10,423 

8,823 



#533,037 



* This is all salted or ' powdered.' The more southern latitudes from 
which this article comes are not so well adapted for the making of butter as 
ours is, in consequence of their being subject to protracted periods of 
drought, which is prejudicial to the manufacture of dairy produce. Our 
moister climate gives us a decided advantage in this respect. 



200 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Here we have imported from foreign countries in one 
year, into an infant city of not more than 5,000 inhabitants, 
farming products, valued in round numbers as per invoice 
(wholesale) at 106,000/. sterling, every one of which articles 
could have been produced in the colony. It is true that 
a considerable proportion of these were intended for con- 
sumption in British Columbia, but having a market so 
near and so good — independently of that furnished by 
our own island population — it supplies an argument all 
the more forcible why a stimulus should be given to 
agricultural enterprise among us. 

Some have looked upon the perpetuation of the free- 
port system as suicidal to agricultural prosperity. If, 
however, the kinds of produce that nourish in the island 
can be raised at the same expense as in California, 
Oregon, or Washington Territory, it is evident that our 
farmers must be more favourably situated than producers 
in these States who may attempt to compete with us in 
supplying our market, since they have not only to bear 
charges of transit from the interior, where they reside, to 
the place of shipment, but also freight thence to Victoria. 
The latter item, especially, our farmers are enabled to 
save. Being close to market, moreover, and all our vege- 
tables with certain of our cereals being superior to what 
are imported, they secure a preference among island 
consumers. 

Did we possess a general protective tariff, the higher 
prices agriculturists would then have to pay for manu- 
factured imports would considerably outweigh any little 
advantage they might gain in that case over American 
neighbours in disposing of stock and produce. If, on the 
other hand, the system of protection were confined to 
articles strictly agricultural, it might be attended with loss 
to the community at large, but could not sensibly benefit 
colonial producers. 



CLEARING AND SOWING. 201 

If with so little talent, energy, economy, and capital 
the majority of our farmers manage to keep their heads 
above water, their condition would be incalculably im- 
proved by possessing a larger share of these qualities. The 
free-port system should be guarded intact in its present 
state, so that not even the shadow of any custom-house 
official might ever be allowed to fall on it. For if once 
the principle of taxing imports be acknowledged, it will 
be impossible for the local government under financial 
pressure in the future to resist temptation to extend the 
application of it from articles of agriculture to those of 
commerce. The transition from the one to the other is 
easy. What then would be the result ? The chief element 
of our strength and progress would be hopelessly im- 
paired. The charm with which Victoria is now invested 
— as distinguished from all other cities on the North 
American shores of the Pacific, and by which she brings 
to her feet commerce from every part of the globe — would 
be broken, and that unlucky day would be cursed by 
posterity when the first conception of protective policy 
to farmers cast an incurable blight upon commercial 
interests. 

Clearing, Times of Sowing, <$fc. 

There are open lands in the colony already fit for the 
plough, and from which a crop may be obtained without 
any exertion in clearing. But even the richest prairie 
soil cannot entirely dispense with preparation for plough- 
ing. Where loose surface stones or small boulders happen 
to be imbedded, they should be first carefully removed. 
If there be no dense weed or stumps, the land should be 
broken up, in the first instance, by one or more yokes of 
oxen, as the farmer may deem necessary. These animals 
are preferred for strength and steadiness of draught to 
the ordinary horses of the country. 



202 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

If fern prevail on the land, it should be ploughed up 
in the heat of summer, in order, by exposure of the roots 
to the rays of the sun, to destroy them. These with all 
bulbous weeds, such as crocuses, kamass, &c, should 
be collected and burned. Fern-land, not required for 
immediate use, may with advantage be left for hogs to 
burrow in, as they form valuable pioneers. 

Land covered with pine is not difficult to clear. That 
tree, being of a resinous description, burns freely, and its 
roots creep close to the surface. Nor is it requisite for 
sowing the first year's crop that the stumps should all be 
removed. In Canada this is a work extending over years, 
and the settler can adapt the quantity of land he clears to 
the means at his command. The roots of oak descending 
more vertically into the ground are not so easily eradi- 
cated. The cost of clearing an acre of timbered land is 
put by the Surveyor-General of the colony at SI. But 
where a man, assisted by a family of lads, works him- 
self, the expense would not equal half that amount. 

After clearing, draining and ditching should receive 
early attention. I am convinced from observation that 
where the land is level — favouring the collection of sur- 
face water — the benefit of good drainage to the crops 
will, in two years, more than make up for its cost. 

Some advise that the rotation of crops in virgin soil 
should be : after the ground has been left to a summer 
fallow, wheat sown in October ; then a crop of peas, oats, 
or wheat again, and then a fallow made for turnips. By 
this time it is estimated the land will be well cleaned. 
After turnips, a crop of barley or oats should be raised, 
followed by potatoes. After the land is subjected to this 
cleaning process, it is advised that it should be manured, 
and then placed under the four-course system adopted 
in Great Britain. But, instead of following implicitly 



AUTUMN CULTIVATION. 203 

these or any other directions respecting the sowing of 
crops, the settler will act more wisely in following the 
method dictated by expediency. 

It may be stated generally, however, that the time for 
sowing oats, barley, peas, and tares, is from the middle of 
March to the end of April ; and the time for reaping these 
crops, from the 1st of August to the end of September. 
Potatoes are planted in March and April, and gathered in 
the early part of November. Turnips, gathered at the 
same time, are sown in the six weeks between the 1st of 
June and the middle of July. 

Autumn cultivation is not yet common in the colony. 
Besides wheat — which ought to be sown in October, that 
the young plant may gain strength to withstand the frosts 
of winter — there are certain fodder plants which should 
be put in about the same time. These specially deserve 
consideration in connection with stock-raising. There are 
clovers — red, Dutch, and Alsike. The last-named is the 
best of perennial clovers, and produces a thick crop of 
forage. The crimson clover (Trifolium incamatum) forms 
rich fodder for cattle in spring, if cut when in flower. 
Lucerne (Medicago sativa) comes up in spring, a fortnight 
before the clovers or rye-grass. It is most congenial to a 
light sandy soil, with a calcareous subsoil. With proper 
care this will yield a crop for eight years in succession. 
Common bird's-foot trefoil [Lotus corniculatus) is highly 
nutritious, grows on dry elevated pastures, and is con- 
sumed with avidity by cattle. From the great depth to 
which its roots penetrate, it is protected against injury 
from drought, and succeeds in retaining its verdure after 
the grasses and other plants are burnt up. Common 
saintfoin (Onobrychis sativus) also continues in perfection 
for many years, and ought to form part of all permanent 
pastures. Common tares or vetch (Vicia saliva), hard 



204 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

fescue grass (Festuca duriuscula), sheep's fescue (Festuca 
ovina), Italian rye (Lolium Italicum), and common rye- 
grass (Lolium perenne) — all these plants, sown in autumn, 
will produce in spring an early and a bulky crop, and should, 
without delay, engage the notice of island farmers.* 

Owing to our proximity to the gold-mines, farm-labour 
is scarce, and this operates, as a serious hindrance to the 
development of agricultural resources. Yet the rate of 
wages offered to farm-servants is about double what ob- 
tains in England. While in the parent country they 
receive 21. 8s. per month without board, in Vancouver 
Island they are paid 4Z. per month with board. 

The intending emigrant will naturally desire to know 
what progress has been made in the colony as to roads. 
He is informed, in reply, that the Government has spared 
no pains in meeting this want. Within a radius of twenty 
miles of Victoria, in every direction, superior roads are 
made. Settlers in the remoter districts of Cowichan, 
Nanaimo, and Comox, however, are for the present at a 
discount in this respect. But a small steamer and several 
sailing-vessels call at the various settlements on the coast 
periodically, and afford farmers an opportunity of receiv- 
ing stores and letters from Victoria, and of sending their 
produce to market. From Comox there is a trail all the 
way to Victoria ; but it is continually liable to be inter- 
rupted by the fall of trees after a storm. Every year 
will witness a rapid extension of roads where they are 
required. 

' An Act to provide for the Eepair, Improvement, and 
Eegulation of Eoads in Vancouver Island and its Depen- 
dencies,' was passed some years ago. It was therein 
appointed ' that every male person over ten years of age, 

* For these hints on autumn tillage I am obliged to the communication 
of a gentleman of great experience in such matters. 



TERMS OF SETTLEMENT. 205 

and every male and female entitled to any interest in any 
real estate in any of the road districts, shall perform six 
days' labour upon the public highway, with extra days if 
property be extensive. This labour may be compounded 
at the rate of six shillings and threepence — the rate of a 
man's labour — per day. A cart or waggon, with a pair of 
horses or oxen, is equal to two days' labour — or twelve 
shillings and sixpence.' 

The principal articles for working and stocking a pre- 
empted farm are : an American plough, 4/. to ol.\ a waggon, 
40Z. ; a good horse, 20Z. ; a yoke of oxen, 30/. to 40/. ; 
sheep, from 11. to 11. 13s. per head ; hogs, 2\d. per lb. on 
foot ; hay, hi. per ton ; cows, ll. per head ; fowls, from 4s. 
to 6s. each; wheat, 6s. 3d. per bushel, for fowls. Many 
a farmer, notwithstanding, has commenced work in the 
island with little more than one or two needful imple- 
ments, procuring other requisites as he could. 

Terms of Settlement. 

The upset price of surveyed land in the agricultural 
districts is 4s. 2d. per acre, one-fourth of which amount 
must be paid when the purchase is recorded, and the re- 
mainder in successive instalments, extending, altogether, 
over four years. In those portions of the country which 
are still unsurveyed, the farming emigrant could enter into 
freehold possession by pre-emption. This system enables 
the settler to acquire land without any payment being 
called for till it is surveyed. From the date of survey he 
is required to meet his obligations to the Government in 
annual instalments, and at the same rate as in the previous 
instance. 

When the claim is registered, a recording fee of Ss. id. 
is charged. By this arrangement any unmarried man, 
above eighteen years of age, being a British subject, or 



206 AGRICULTURE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

having, as an alien, taken the oath of allegiance to the 
Crown, may pre-empt 150 acres ; a married man, having 
a wife resident in the colony, 200 acres ; and for each 
child under eighteen years of age, resident in the colony, 
he is entitled to ten additional acres.* 

Considering the rival advantages offered to the poor 
emigrant in New Zealand, the South African Colonies, and 
the United States — all of which countries are so much 
easier of access from England than this part of the world — 
it would be desirable for the local government to make, 
for a certain period, free grants of land to bona fide settlers. 
While such strenuous exertions are being used, and liberal 
inducements presented by New Zealand and the States to 
bring emigration, we cannot hope for the rapid settlement 
of these North Pacific colonies with poor but industrious 
farmers, unless we endeavour, in some measure, to imitate 
the example of those more advanced countries. 

* For the most recent land-proclamation in extenso see the Appendix. 



207 



CHAPTEE VII. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. — -GEOLOGY, ETC. 

Seaboard — Sir Alexander Mackenzie — First Trading Post — Hudson's Bay 
Company's regime — Geological Formation. 

British Columbia lies between the parallels of 49° and 
55° N. lat., and contains, together with Queen Charlotte 
Island, the chief of its insular dependencies, an area of 
about 200,000 square miles. It is bounded on the south 
by the frontier of the United States, on the east by the 
Eocky Mountains, on the north by Simpson's Eiver and 
the Finlay branch of Peace Eiver, and on the west by the 
Pacific Ocean. Its coast-line, as has been already stated, 
measures 450, and the average breadth of the colony is 
from 350 to 400 miles. Its greatest length diagonally, 
from corner to corner, is 805 miles. 

Like Vancouver Island, the seaboard of British Columbia 
is broken by numerous inlets, many of which are navigable 
by steamers and sailing vessels of moderate draft, and 
will undoubtedly be brought, sooner or later, into use as 
mediums of communication with the farming and mining 
settlements rising up in the interior. 

While the exploration of the adjoining colony was 
accomplished by navigators approaching it from the west, 
British Columbia was originally entered by civilised enter- 
prise from the east. 



208 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

The Quebec Fur Company formed in 1629, the Hudson's 
Bay Company in 1669, and, subsequently, the North- West 
Company, vied with each other in extending their respec- 
tive hunting-grounds northward and westward. But the 
eternal snows crowning the gigantic range of the Eocky 
Mountains seemed to bid resistless defiance to all further 
advance toward the Pacific till the heroic Sir Alexander 
Mackenzie, in 1790, crossed at the north end of the range, 
and succeeded in tracing Peace Eiver and the Praser to 
their sources. That name will remain indelibly inscribed 
on the page of history as belonging to the first white man 
who set foot in British Columbia. 

The romantic story of Lewis and Clarke has made 
familiar to many the thrilling adventures of these leaders 
of the pioneer-band who next, in the year 1804, passed 
the formidable barrier referred to. 

In 1806 the first fur-trading post ever established in 
British Columbia was erected a short distance from the 
great bend of Praser Eiver by the officer of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, after whom that stream was named. It 
was not long before the country — known then as New 
Caledonia — was dotted with the factories of the company. 

In 1821 a termination was put to the fierce hostilities 
that had for many years embroiled the Montreal or North- 
West Company in bloody conflict with the Hudson's Bay 
Company, and these two trading bodies, burying the 
hatchet, were merged under the designation of the latter. 
In that year the united companies obtained a charter 
guaranteeing to them exclusive trade in these regions ; 
and to their posts the native tribes c brought the furs of 
the black and silver fox, the bear, the sea-otter, the 
fisher, the marten, the beaver, the musk-rat, the lynx,' 
&c. This lucrative monopoly the company enjoyed till 
1858, when the country — added to the list of British 






ITS PHYSICAL CHARACTEK. 209 

colonies, to be governed under the direction of the Crown 
— was emancipated from the restrictive dominion of the 
fur- trader, and thrown open to the free enterprise of 
civilisation. The large influx of population in that year, 
consequent on the discovery of gold, has been already 
enlarged upon in connection with the history of Vancouver 
Island. 

The geology and physical geography of British Columbia 
alike derive their character primarily from the presence 
of the Eocky Mountains. This great chain, running from 
north-west to south-east, forms the axis of elevation of the 
western coast of North America. It is of volcanic forma- 
tion, and is subject to the action of eruptive and elevatory 
forces to which the craters of Mount Helen, Mount Eanier, 
and Mount Baker answer as safety-valves. 

This mountain range consists generally of igneous 
hypogenic rocks, flanked by silurian deposits, combined 
with auriferous rocks, which also in part overlay the 
first-named of these strata. 

In the vicinity of the 49th parallel this range is mainly com- 
posed of contorted, false-bedded, stratified rocks, very full of 
ripple mark, with some interstratified basaltic traps. These 
beds rest on a gneisso-granitic mass, which is exposed at Pend- 
Orielle Lake, about half way between the Columbia and Kootanie 
rivers. 

This granite is the general geological axis of the country, and 
divides the unaltered rocks of the eastern slope from those of 
the western side, which are principally black slate and lime- 
stone, contemporaneous with the lower beds of the Eocky 
Mountains ; but they are very much altered and disturbed both 
by granite and greenstone rocks. It is remarkable that only 
one greenstone dyke is exposed to the eastward of Pend-Orielle 
Lake (in the valley of the Kootanie River), while the amount of 
metamorphism in the rocks increases as we pass westward from 
the Columbia to the Pacific, or valley of the Fraser River. 

P 



210 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

This "great range then runs in a north-west and south-east 
direction, at an average distance of from 350 to 400 miles from 
the coast. Parallel to this, running in the same general direc- 
tion, is the coast range, which sends down, westerly, numerous" 
rugged mountain-spurs to meet the sea and to form deep 
inlets. 

This range, composed of plutonic, metamorphic, and trappean 
rocks, permeated throughout by a system of metalliferous 
quartzose veins and trappean dykes, sends off a branch known 
as the Lilloet spur, to terminate at the Fraser Eiver west of 
Hope. Between the range and the spur is enclosed a chain of 
lakes which, with their portages, are of great importance as a 
means of transit to the upper country. A succession of elevated 
plateaux of the tertiary age stretch westerly from the base of 
the Eocky Mountains and their flanking ridges to this Lilloet 
spur of the coast range ; and cutting its way through the friable 
materials of this deposit, bursting through the mountain passes 
at Yale and Hope, the Fraser Eiver with its golden waters 
flows onward to the sea, bringing down in its spring and summer 
torrents those lighter particles of gold which, accumulated on 
its banks and bars, have been the means of directing attention 
to and developing that amazing wealth of the rugged upper 
country whence the noble stream derives its springs of life. 

Sweeping on past Yale and Hope, the river leaves its rocky 
barriers behind, and, rolling on in graceful sweeps, passes the 
rising city of New Westminster, to empty its flood into the 
Grulf of G-eorgia. During the latter part of its course it flows 
a tranquil steady stream, through tertiary and alluvial deposits, 
carrying with it sedimentary matter, to be deposited as banks 
and shoals, the nuclei of future ' green fields and pastures new.' 

The colony of British Columbia, which thus extends its 
western borders to the sea, has a noble barrier for the protection 
of its shores. An outlying ridge, another parallel chain of 
mountains — cut off, however, by the sea from the continent 
with which, in its physical geography, it is connected — forms an 
archipelago of islands, the chief of which is the sister colony of 
Vancouver. 

The whole northern and western sea-face of British Columbia, 



GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 211 

as far south as Howe Sound, is a rugged mass of plutonic, 
trappean, and quartzose rocks, with associated semi-crystalline 
limestones. Cut up by numerous inlets and arms of the sea, it 
needs no protection against the winds and waves, but sends out 
its adamantine promontories to meet them. 

Far different, however, is the coast-line from Howe Sound or 
Burrard's Inlet southwards. Stretching in a semicircle, the 
convexity of which touches the foot-range of mountains above 
Langley on the Fraser, and reaching south, past Bellingham. 
Bay, into United States territory, is a deposit of loose friable 
sandstones and alluvium, the same through which the Fraser 
River cuts its way. These sandstones at Burrard's Inlet and at 
Bellingham Bay contain seams of lignite ; the associated friable 
sandstones, where hardened and partially metamorphosed, show- 
ing impressions of a dicotyledonous plant allied to maple. 

All geological evidence tends to prove that the last upheaval 
of this continent and outlying islands was slow and gradual, 
occurring in the post-pleistocene or most recent tertiary epoch. 
And the existence of this belt of sandstone and alluvium, which 
is of such vast importance to British Columbia, is due in the 
first place to the upheaval and deposition of alluvial matter ; in 
the second place, to the protection of the outlying insular bar- 
riers, Vancouver Island and its dependencies.* 

This quotation from the excellent pamphlet of my friend 
is given at length because it contains the most compre- 
hensive geological description of the colony I have seen, 
and the document from which it is taken is very little 
known in England, not having been published here. 

At the entrance to Harrison Lake, and on both sides of 
that sheet of water, there are boulders of granite and 
quartzose rocks ; gneiss with garnets ; mica-schist with 
garnets ; slate, and masses of white quartz, giving metalli- 
ferous indications. Most of the mountains surrounding 
the lake are composed of trap, with micaceous, talcose, 



* Forbes, p. 7. 
p 2 



212 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

and hornblende schists, resting at various angles upon it. 
All these are more or less charged with iron, the oxidation 
of which is thought to have produced the disintegration 
of these rocks. 

Not far from the mouth of the Harrison, on the right 
bank, is found a mass of trachytic rock, which has evi- 
dently been erupted, having also shattered and dislodged 
the rocks adjacent. This rock, which is of volcanic origin, 
contains white quartz, showing the presence of silver and 
copper. The quartz-vein dips northerly, overlaid by the 
trachytic rocks. Subordinate veins of quartz radiate in 
all directions, permeating the trachyte. 

The geological features of this locality may be regarded 
as a fair type of the formation on the entire eastern side 
of the lake. It has been briefly described as ' a region of 
primary metamorphic and volcanic rock, crossed and 
recrossed by trappean dykes and veins and seams of 
metalliferous quartz and quartzose rocks, which form the 
central axis of the mountain range, have on their flanks 
transverse ridges and spurs of trappean rock, bedded and 
jointed ; resting on which, at various angles, he the meta- 
morphic schistose rocks, which, again broken through, 
disturbed and shattered by successive intrusions of volcanic 
rock, have in many instances undergone a second meta- 
morphosis, and show an amorphous crystalline structure, 
accompanied by segregation of metal into the permeating 
veins.' 

On the road between Douglas and Lilloet is found an 
argentiferous rock of a pale blue colour, with masses and 
strings of quartz running through it. Sulphuret of silver, 
argentiferous pyrites, and specks of gold are met with, 
associated with iron pyrites, in cubes and other forms. 
Numerous faults and slips exist in the trappean range. 

As far as they have been examined, the rocks on the 



GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 213 

way from Hope to Colville are of the igneous and meta- 
morphic series. A mountain near Hope appears to be 
of granite, tipped with slate, and interspersed with masses 
of white indurated clay, containing fragments of white 
quartz. 

This formation (says Lieutenant Palmer, E.E.) may be said 
to consist of granite with its felspar decomposed and reduced to 
a state of indurated clay.; it extends to the dividing ridge of the 
cascades, and partly into the valley of the Tulameen. In the 
latter valley may be seen vast masses of white quartz ; in all 
probability the exposed face of the rock, which, with granite, 
constitutes a large portion of the district, extending into the 
Semilkameen valley. 

On approaching the summit of the Tulameen range, the 
quartz partially disappears, and is replaced by a species of 
variegated sandstone, in which traces of iron occur. To what 
extent the sandstone prevailed I had no opportunity of judging, 
the weather being snowy while I was there, and the rocks, as a 
rule, imbedded in peaty turf. 

As we leave the Tulameen mountains and descend into the 
valley below, indurated clay appears to predominate to a con- 
siderable extent. This clay varies in character as we approach 
the Vermilion Forks : a portion I noticed near that point being 
a white silicate of alumina, mixed with sand. On one specimen 
which I picked up were the fossil remains of the leaves of the 
hemlock. 

Further down in the Semilkameen valley the clay acquires a 
slaty texture, and becomes stained with iron to a greater or less 
extent. Blue clay also exists ; only, however, in small quantities. 

The mountains bordering the Semilkameen consist chiefly of 
granite, greenstone, and quartz, capped with blue and brown 
clay slate. The beds of both the Tulameen and Semilkameen 
are covered with boulders of granite of every description and 
colour ; of greenstone and of trap, and vary in form and size. 

Boulders of the same character prevail on the river-bottoms 
to a greater or less extent. Like that of most other explored 
parts of British Columbia, the geological character of this region 



214 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

appears to indicate the high probability of auriferous deposits. 
In the lower portion of the Semilkameen, and near the ' Big 
Bend/ gold was discovered shortly after I passed through by 
some of the men attached to the United States Boundary Com- 
mission. Report pronounced the discovery a valuable one, as 
much as $40 to the hand being taken out in three hours without 
proper mining tools. 

The Cariboo district, which embraces spurs of the 
Eocky chain, is so singularly contorted and erupted as to 
be represented as ' a tumbled sea of mountains.' Their 
characteristic feature is, that the granite of which they 
are partially composed is permeated, as elsewhere, with 
masses of quartz. The beds of some of the streams con- 
tain large quartz boulders and a kind of slate rock, covered 
with red gravel, said to bear resemblance to the rich 
gold-bearing regions in the south of California. 



215 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Scenery in the Passage from Victoria to Eraser River — Cascade Range — 
New Westminster — Imports — Shipping Returns — Customs Revenue — 
Rates of Duties Leviable — Government Buildings — Churches — Langley — 
Sumass and Chilukweyuk — Harrison River — Douglas — Diary of a Journey 
thence to "William's Creek — Cariboo — Table of Distances — Hope — Yale 
— Rapids — Lytton— Clinton — William's Lake — Routes via Bentinck Arm 
and Bute Inlet — Routes to Shuswap. 

Steamers ply regularly between Victoria and New 
Westminster, performing a voyage of about eighty miles 
in seven hours. The trip across the Gulf of Georgia in 
fine weather is uncommonly interesting, especially to one 
accustomed to the landscapes of Western Europe. For 
alternate beauty and sublimity, the scenery passed through 
cannot be equalled by any to be met with on the coasts 
of the Old World. 

In traversing the placid waters cultivated tracts are 
beheld westward in the districts of Victoria and Saanich. 
Our course, at times, leads through narrow and lonely 
passes between pine-clad islands, and flocks of mallard, 
widgeon, and sea-gull ever and anoD present a tempting 
spectacle to the sportsman. 

The coast of the colony appears fringed with dense 
forest, sometimes growing on flats, but generally covering 
mountains of various shape and grade. These granitic 
and trappean ridges terminate in peaks, varying from 
1,000 to 10,000 feet high, and are timbered half way to 
their summits. 



216 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

A considerable distance behind the minor ranges, the 
Cascade chain runs nearly parallel with the coast at a 
distance of from sixty to one hundred miles from it. The 
loftiest height in this range is Mount Baker. It is 
situated in lat. 48° 44' N. in American territory. It is 
10,700 feet high, and towers far above every other object 
visible from the Gulf. It was seen from Victoria 
several times, after dusk, during my residence there, in a 
state of eruption; 

At length the mouth of the Fraser is reached. On 
either side of the entrance to the river, sand-bars have 
been formed by river-drift, and extend five miles west- 
ward, opposing, however, no dangers to navigation which 
a reasonable amount of caution may not avoid. As we 
ascend, the maple, the alder, and the cottonwood appear 
in the vicinity of land that is liable to periodic inunda- 
tion from spring floods. Higher ground is occupied by 
cedars and majestic pines. The prodigious size of these 
giants of the forest is beyond even what the backwoods- 
man of Canada is prepared for. 

Fifteen miles up the stream from its mouth is New 
Westminster, the infant capital of the colony. It stands 
upon a slope inconveniently steep for extension into a 
great city, though possessing facilities for anchorage by 
no means despicable. This site was chosen by Colonel 
Moody, late Commissioner of Lands and Works in the 
colony, for the strategical advantages which it offers in 
case of war with our American neighbours, and the space 
will doubtless prove ample for all future requirements of 
a town built in that location. Should the colony of 
Vancouver Island be eventually united with British 
Columbia, and one parliament be agreed upon to legislate 
for both, New Westminster will serve admirably . for 
the seat of Government. It is in no respect desirable 



IMPORTS TO NEW WESTMINSTER. 



217 



that Victoria, the natural depot of commerce for the 
entire region, should also in that event be the political 
centre. 

New Westminster, which had no existence till 1859, is 
the present port of entry for British Columbia, and the 
following statistics may be taken as a fair index of the 
degree in which, since that time, it has prospered. All 
imports pay duty at this point. 

Comparative Quarterly Statement of Imports. 



First quarter 
Second quarter . 
Third quarter . 
Fourth quarter . 


1862 


1863 


$ 

155,172 

1,154,242 

995,914 

495,511 


46 
09 

98 
38 


$ 

376,016 73 
752,082 70 
574,323 99 
406,614 28 


2,800,840 


91 


2,109,037 70 



Total Value of Imports into the Colony of British Columbia 
during the Years 1861, 1862, 1863. 

1861 #1,414,399 73 

1862 2,800,840 91 

1863 2,109,037 70* 

The value of imports entered at the custom-house 
during the quarter ending 31st March, 1864, is $459,117 
88c. The value of imports during the corresponding 
quarter last year was $375,016 73c, showing a difference 
of $84,014 15c. in favour of this year, a very satisfactory 
advance under all the circumstances. 



* The difference in value "between the imports of 1862 and 1863 is mainly 
attributable to the large quantity of live stock imported in the former year 
from Oregon and Washington Territory by overland route, via Kock 
Creek. Besides, there was an extraordinary rush of immigration in the 
former of these years. 



218 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



SHIPPING RETURNS. 

Comparative Statement of Number of Vessels and Passengers 
Entered Inwards at the Port of New Westminster during 
the Years 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863. 



1860 

1861. 

1862 

1863 


No. of Vessels 


Passengers 


337* 

228 
276 
243 


5,270 
2,233 
6,496 
5,103 


1,084 


19,102 



CUSTOMS REVENUE. 

Comparative Statement of Customs Revenue {exclusive of 
Road Tolls) during 1859, 1860, 186l, 1862, 1863. 

1859 #88,945 89 

1860 171,010 03 

1861 181,701 94 

1862 284,017 64 

1863 276,161 10 

Comparative Statement of Customs Receipts from January 1 
to March 31, in the Years 1863 and 1864. 









1864 


1863 


Duties . 
Harbour dues 
Head money . 
Tonnage dues 
Warehouse fees 
In. nav. licenses 
Fines and seizures . ' 
Landing waiter's trips 






£ s. 

13,142 6 

168 16 

303 16 

910 5 

1 

25 4 

3 6 




d. 
11 



6 


8 



£ s. d. 

9,631 3 10 

213 2 3 

235 4 

637 10 6 

14 12 

41 16 

38 13 

20 8 6 


Total 
Increase on the quar 


ter 




£14,554 15 


1 


£10,832 10 1 
. £3,722 5 



Passengers entered during the above period : 1863, 
1,176 ; 1864, 1,519. 

* Includes a large number of miners' canoes. 



SKETCH OF NEW WESTMINSTER. 



219 



Bates of Duties of Customs noiv Leviable at Few Westminster 
upon Goods and Articles Imported into British Columbia. 





s. 


d. 




s. 


d. 


Flour, per barrel 


3 


u 


Bitters, per gallon . 


2 


1 


Bacon, salt and dried pork, 






Blankets, per pair . 


2 


1 


per lb 





1 


Cheese, per lb. 





H 


Beans, per 100 lb. . 


1 


3 


Opium, „ 


2 


l 


Barley, per 100 lb. . 


1 


3 


Dried, fish, „ 





l 


Butter, per lb. 





3* 


Salt fish, „ 





oj 


Candles „ 





n 


Chinese medicated wine, 






Lard „ 





i 


per gallon . 


3 


i* 


Eice, per 100 lb. . 


3 


i* 


Dried vegetables (Chinese), 






Tea, per lb. . 





2£ 


per lb 





l 


Coffee „ ... 





4 


Salt vegetables (Chinese) 






Sugar „ . ^ . 





I 


per lb. 





0£ 


Ale and porter in bottle, 






Spirits, per gallon . 


6 


3 


per doz. 


1 


8 


Horses, oxen, mules, per 






Ale and porter in wood, 






head .... 


4 


2 


per gallon . 





7 


Sheep and goats „ 


2 


1 


Wine in wood and bottle, 






Tobacco, per lb. 





6* 


per gallon . 


2 


1 


Flour, 196 lb. per barrel . 


3 


1* 



On all other articles a duty of 10 per cent, on the value thereof. 

New Westminster contains several hundred permanent 
inhabitants and several buildings of brick and stone that 
would do no discredit to a city twenty times its size. 

The plan of the town is divided into a number of 
blocks, varying in size, and averaging 6 by 4^ chains. 
Each block is subdivided into lots measuring 66 feet by 
132 feet. 

Among the public buildings of New Westminster the 
most prominent are the Government buildings, which 
include the offices of Governor, Colonial Secretary, Trea- 
surer, Master of the Mint, Colonial Assayer, and Colonial 
Auditor. There is a hall and an engine-house connected 
with the Hook and Ladder Company, which comprises 
a body of volunteers banded together for the purpose of 
extinguishing destructive fires. A colonial hospital has 
also been built here. 



220 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

The Bornan Catholics are represented by a bishop and 
several priests, who minister to the religious wants of 
both immigrants and aborigines. The Church of England 
has a place of worship, with a rector and archdeacon 
resident in the neighbourhood. 

It is proposed by the Bishop of Columbia to secure the 
appointment of a new bishop for the diocese of British 
Columbia. Dr. Hills, as embryo Metropolitan, would 
then reside in Victoria, Vancouver Island. The new chief 
pastor, when ordained, will take his title from New West- 
minister, where he will also have his episcopal seat. 

This step, like the large accession that has recently 
been made to the colonial clergy, has been severely 
criticised by the press of these colonies as entirely pre- 
mature, and is considered by many laymen as a culpable 
waste of religious funds. It is those who sustain the 
mission and those who are benefited by it, however, that 
must be allowed to determine what is the best course to 
adopt in the matter. The collective white population of 
both colonies is 15,000,* and it is believed that the natives 
do not exceed that number. Not more than two churches 
in both colonies put together are adequately self-support- 
ing. 500/. is annually expended out of mission funds to 
sustain two schools in Victoria — one for boys and another 
for girls — the number of pupils in attendance at the 
larger of the two being forty or fifty. About twenty 
clergymen are salaried, besides one or two ladies, one 
bishop, and two archdeacons. This staff is deemed by 
many more than sufficient to meet the present spiritual 
requirements of the colonists, without the appointment of 
a second bishop. There cannot be fewer than thirty-five 
ordained pastors already in the colonies, including Eoman 

* It is confidently expected that the mines of Kootanie will, this year, 
add 20 ; 000 to the population. 



THE LOWER FRASER. 221 

Catholic priests. Estimating the present white and abori- 
ginal population at 30,000, we have a proportion of one 
pastor to less than each thousand. But more than one half 
of those clergymen belong to the Episcopal Church, while 
its adherents, as compared with the other religious bodies 
put together, are vastly in the minority. It does seem, 
therefore, that the cost of the episcopal organisation is 
out of proportion both to the sphere of operations and to 
the results that may be expected to follow for many years. 

The Presbyterian Church of Canada and the Wesleyan 
body have also their respective churches and ministers. 

In proportion to the extent of the population of New 
Westminster, it is of a more homogeneous and permanent 
character than are the inhabitants of Victoria. The 
municipal affairs of the place are conducted by a mayor 
and corporation. 

Commodious steamers are in waiting at the former 
place to convey freight and passengers to the head of 
navigation on the Lower Fraser in one direction, and on 
Harrison Lake in another. The first point of special 
interest reached after leaving the capital is Langley, situ- 
ated about 30 miles from the mouth of the river. Here 
is an old and extensive trading fort of the Hudson's Bay 
Company. The land around the Fort, which has been 
cleared of heavy timber, produces excellent crops. In 
the garden attached, vegetables grow in luxuriance, while 
the apple-trees are loaded with fruit. The sites chosen 
for the forts of the company are generally on the bank of 
a lake or river sufficiently elevated to command the sur- 
rounding country. The establishment is constructed of 
hewn timber, and includes fifteen or twenty houses. These 
consist of one or two for the accommodation of officers 
and clerks ; others affording quarters for labourers and 
mechanics. Spacious storehouses are likewise enclosed 



222 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

for the reception of goods and furs, with shops for car- 
penters, coopers, and blacksmiths. A powder-magazine 
is added, built of stone or brick ; the entire structure is 
protected by a stockade 15 or 20 feet high, inside of 
which, near the top, is a gallery with loopholes for mus- 
kets. This picket-work is flanked with bastions, of which 
there are generally two placed at diagonal corners ; these 
mount several small pieces of cannon, and are also amply 
pierced for musketry. Seen from a distance these forts 
are rather formidable in appearance, and though capable 
of offering but slight resistance to artillery, have been 
found sufficient to overawe the Indians. 

The broad and fertile prairies at Sumass and Chiluk- 
weyuk next come into view, which are overflowed by 
freshets once a year. It must be confessed, however, that 
the banks of the river, for the most part, do not convey 
a remarkably encouraging impression of the agricultural 
capabilities of British Columbia. Tall and dense forests, 
tangled with undergrowth, circumscribe the prospect in 
many places, and together with the mountains visible in 
advance of the traveller, impart to the scenery an aspect 
of wild and gloomy grandeur. 

The scenery on the Lower Fraser is thus eloquently 
described in a despatch of Governor Douglas : — 

The banks of this river are almost everywhere covered with 
woods. Varieties of pine and firs of prodigious size, and large 
poplar trees, predominate. The vine and soft maple, the wild 
apple-tree, the white and black thorn, and deciduous bushes in 
great variety form the massive undergrowth. The vegetation 
is luxuriant, almost beyond conception, and at this season 
of the year (summer) presents a peculiarly beautiful appear- 
ance. The eye never tires of ranging over the varied shades 
of the fresh green foliage, mingling with the clustering white 
flowers of the wild apple-tree, now in full blossom, and rilling 
the air with delicious fragrance. As our boat, gliding swiftly 



THE DOUGLAS ROUTE. 223 

over the smooth waters, occasionally swept beneath the over- 
hanging boughs that form a canopy of leaves impervious to the 
sun's rays, the effect was enchanting. 

Thirty-five miles above Langley is the debouche of the 
Harrison, and the confluence of that stream with the 
Fraser. 

Fifty miles from the mouth of Harrison Eiver, and at 
the head of the lake of the same name, is Douglas, on the 
route to the mines of Cariboo, via Lilloet. This lake is 
surrounded by lofty and rugged mountains, cleft to the 
base by hideous fissures, capped with snow, and in general 
presenting a singularly barren appearance. 

The hamlet, which bears the name of the first governor 
of the colony, stands upon the margin of the lake, and 
the possibility of its enlargement would seem to be 
precluded by rocky heights, almost precipitous, in its 
rear. But other routes to the northern mines are likely 
to abstract from Douglas the lion's share of the traffic 
which it has hitherto enjoyed ; so that the confined space 
allotted by Nature to the growth of the town will not. 
probably be felt as a serious inconvenience. 

Without continuing any formal description of the 
Douglas route, I will take the liberty of appending a copy 
of the diary of a miner which gives a much more gra- 
phic idea of the difficulties of personal locomotion for- 
merly involved in a journey to Cariboo than any other 
delineation could do. 

Happily engineering skill has, since the trip now to be 
depicted was undertaken, completely triumphed over 
these obstacles, and now a good waggon-road has been 
constructed, running over the entire distance from Doug- 
las, except where lakes intervene. The route via Yale, 
to be hereafter described, is favoured with similar advan- 
tages. Instead, therefore, of the journey occupying as 



224 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

formerly from 23 to 30 days, it can now be comfortably 
performed on foot in less than half that time ; and should 
the miner be able to indulge in the luxury of stage tra- 
velling, the time will be abridged in proportion. 

The following paper, not before published, has been 
kindly placed at my disposal by the gentleman who pre- 
pared it : — 

Diary of Journey to William's Creek, Cariboo, May, 1863. 

May 8th. — Left Victoria at 9 a.m. Arrived at New West- 
minster at 4.30 p.m. Had a pleasant passage, the day being- 
warm and calm. Put up at the ' Mansion House ; ' slept in my 
own blankets on the floor in company with several others, free 
of charge. 

Saturday, 9th. — Left New Westminster for Douglas at 
3.30 p.m. Anchored at dark, 40 miles up the river. Slept 
soundly on the saloon floor. 

Sunday, 10th. — Started early ; got into Harrison Eiver at 
8 A. m. * Great contrast between the two rivers —the Fraser 
very muddy — the Harrison as clear as glass. The scenery on 
both is beautiful ; enjoyed it very much. Arrived at Douglas 
at 3 p.m. Travelled 12 miles further on ; pitched our tents in 
the bush. 

Monday, llth. —Grot up at daybreak; cooked breakfast, and 
started for the head of Lilloet Lake, distant 1 7 miles. Arrived 
there at 3.30 p.m. Could not sleep at night for mosquitoes, the 
tent being full of them. The road from Douglas to the lake is 
one continued ' gulch ' between two ranges of mountains, called 
the ' Cascades.' In some parts they are nearly perpendicular, 
and rise to a great height. The distance between Douglas and 
the lake is 29^ miles. About 20 miles from Douglas there is 
a hot mineral spring, said to supply relief to rheumatic patients. 
Its chief constituents are sulphur and soda. There are road- 
side houses every few miles, where meals can be had at a dollar 
(4s. 2d.) each. The scenery is beautiful, the river running 
almost parallel with the road, and the mountains with their 
snow-clad tops towering on either side. 



JOURNEY TO CARIBOO. 225 

Tuesday, 12th. — Started on our journey along the Lilloet 
Lake at 7*30 a.m. Had to go in a barge for six miles before we 
got to the steamboat. Arrived at Pemberton at 2 p.m. From 
the foot of Tenass (little) Lake to the head of Lilloet Lake is 
251 miles. The general direction of the lake is north. At Pem- 
berton we took the waggon-road, and travelled 8 miles same 
day. About 20 of us slept on the floor of the 8-mile house in 
the usual style, being very kindly invited by the landlord. 

Wednesday, 13th. — Started early. Arrived at Anderson Lake, 
distant 26 miles from Pemberton, in good time in the after- 
noon. We passed through all sorts of interesting scenery; rich 
prairie called 6 the Meadows,' 7 or 8 miles long, and from half 
a mile to a mile wide. Beyond the half-way house is a water- 
shed, 1,482 feet above the level of the sea. From the road is 
seen a roaring cataract dashing from the snowy summits of the 
mountains. Here are the sublime and the beautiful in perfection. 
Had to wait for the boat till morning. Made a tent of one of 
my blankets ; could not sleep, the other being too short for 
me. My companion got used up. Had to send his tent and 
blankets by ' express.' 

Thursday, 14th. — On board the steamer at 8 a.m. Lake 
Anderson, 16 miles long. Direction, north and south. Arrived 
at Port Seaton at 3 p.m. Lake Seaton, the last in the chain of 
lakes, is 14 miles long, lying west and east, and is only 1 J miles 
from Lake Anderson. Scenery on both lakes charming ; the hills 
rising abruptly out of the water as clear and tranquil as I have 
ever seen. Travelled to Lilloet, distant 3 J miles. In approach- 
ing it the hills recede. It is a pretty place ; a flat surrounded 
by mountains. There are a few patches of arable land, but 
sand seems to prevail. All along from Douglas the country 
looks barren ; hardly a blade of grass to be seen, or a spot level 
enough to pitch a tent on. 

Friday, 15th. — Started early. The Fraser winds its way 
through the Lilloet Valley, the river bed being 190 feet below 
the plain. The land rises up from the river in terraces, level 
and regular, and these assume hues varying with the seasons. 
Probably the whole valley was once the basin of a lake whose 
waters subsided gradually, these benches being old water marks. 

Q 



226 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

On one of these terrace-like levels, on the right bank of the 
river, is the town of Lilloet ; its altitude 1,036 feet. It consists 
of a broad street lined with wooden stores and dwellings ; has 
350 white inhabitants. At the southern extremity is an Epis- 
copal church, of which a worthy son of a Scotch Free Church 
minister is the rector. The romantic scenery around is calcu- 
lated to remind him of the Highlands of his native country. 
Crossed the Fraser 2 miles above Lilloet. Passed several Indian 
burying-places. All the graves have flags over them. On one 
was a pole with a gun fixed on top. Travelled 20 miles to-day. 
Had the country I passed through been fertile, it would certainly 
be a fine locality for farming. Beautiful tracts of table-land, 
thinly timbered, but parched and sandy, with very little vegetation. 

Saturday, 16th. — Started in company with two Australian 
shipmates. Slept last night in their tent. Met a train of 
camels going down. The country gets more open. Very little 
grass and very little arable land. Crossed Pavilion Mountain. 
Very steep on both sides. Quite flat on the summit for 4 miles. 
Here Bridge Eiver, an auriferous stream, joins the Fraser; 4 
miles higher up is the Fountain. Here is good farming land 
for some distance. Pavilion Mountain is 4,000 feet high. Tra- 
velled 20 miles to-day. Feel quite fresh and hearty. Have 
not got a blister on my feet as yet. 

Sunday, 11th. — Went on to the 'Junction' at Clinton, 47 
miles from Lilloet, situated in a pleasant glen 16 miles in length, 
called ' Cut-off Valley.' Here the Yale and Lilloet roads unite. 
Stayed all day. Bought flour and beef at 25 cents per pound. 

Monday, 18th. — Set out at seven a.m. It rained from then 
till 2 p.m. Travelled 23 miles. Flat country, thickly timbered. 
Slept on the floor of the 70-mile house. A night scene in one 
of these extemporised inns would be an amusing novelty to a 
high-toned civilised Londoner. Might be compared to a robber's 
cave. The floor covered with blanketted bodies. On the 
counter sleeps the bar -keeper, to guard the liquors from any 
traveller that might, in a fit of thirst, so far forget himself as 
to get up in the night, put forth his hand without permission, 
and moisten his throat. My neck and hands all over mosquito 
bites. 



BEIDGE CREEK TO MUD-LAKE HOUSE. 227 

Tuesday, 19th. — On the road at 7 p.m. Hail storm about 
noon. The appearance of the country much the same as I 
passed through yesterday, except that it is more hilly and not 
so thickly timbered. Passed several small lakes with plenty of 
wild ducks ; saw no other game. Can hear partridges chatter- 
ing in the woods. Travelled 30 miles. Put up at the 100-mile 
house, Bridge Creek. Here good farming land opens to view. 
Paid $1 50c. (6s. sterling) for supper, with the privilege of 
sleeping on the floor. Had the honour of sitting before a good 

fire by the side of Judge B . I look as much a judge as he 

does ! I write this close by him. He is on his way to the 
mines. Scarlet and ermine would be sadly out of place here. 

Wednesday, 20th. — Off about 7 a.m. A heavy snow storm. 
Snowed at intervals during the day. A beautiful looking 
country. Soil good, and abundance of wood and water. Land 
near the road clear of timber. Sweet little lakes. Profusion 
of feed for cattle. Passed Lake La Hache, 10 miles long. The 
scenery delightful. I would not wish for a prettier spot for a 
farm. Travelled 28 miles ; feel a little tired. My feet quite 
sound. Some of our party in a bad state with sore feet. Put 
up at the ( Blue Tent.' Paid #1 50c. for supper, and slept com- 
fortably on the floor. 

Thursday, 21 st. — Started early. Walked 4 miles; lighted a 
fire, and cooked breakfast (slap-jacks* and coffee). Travelled 
23 miles. Put up at Davidson's, at the head of William's Lake. 

Overtook Mr. A , who left Victoria two days before me. He 

lost his horse on the road. 

Friday, 22nd. — Started at 6 A.M. Shocking bad road for 10 
miles, over a thickly-wooded hill. Some of our party took the 
trail to the Forks of Quesnelle.f We take the Fort Alexander 
trail. The Forks route is the shortest, but very rough. 
Travelled 25 miles to-day. A broken and hilly country. 
Scenery very romantic. Put up at Mud-Lake House. 

Saturday, 23rd. — On the road at 6 a.m. The trail winds 

* Thin pancakes made of flour and water. 

f This branch route will be described when the road via Yale comes 
under notice. 

Q2 



228 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

along the banks of the Fraser, which flows through a narrow 
valley enclosed by sloping hills on either side. Some spots are 
like made pleasure grounds ; the trees look so green, and the 
blooming shrubs so various. Arrived at Alexandria — a gem of 
a place. Fort Alexander, which belongs to the Hudson's Bay 
Company, is on the opposite side of the river, and consists of 
three or four log-houses. Travelled 21 miles to-day — 3 miles 
beyond Alexandria. 

Sunday, 2Ath. — Could not sleep last night in consequence of 
cold. Disagreed with my companion about Sunday travelling. 
He went on and I stayed here all day. I fancy I will overtake 
him by Tuesday night. 

Monday, 25th. — Grot up at 3 a.m. Had breakfast with A 

and P . Started alone at 5 a.m. They could not go so fast 

with the mule. Killed a carpet-snake 3 feet 6 inches long. A 
thickly-wooded country, with occasional blocks of prairie land. 
Arrived at the mouth of Quesnelle at 6 p.m., making this day's 
journey 33 miles. Feel very tired, the last 12 miles being very 
bad — up to the knees in mud. Overtook those that travelled 
yesterday, here. The town of Quesnelle boasts ten houses, 
chiefly stores. It is the landing-place of the steamer c Enter- 
prise.' Flour 35c, bacon 90c. per lb. The Quesnelle is a rapid 
and shallow stream, whose southern branch flows from the 
Great Quesnelle, one of the largest lakes in the colony. It 
empties from the south-east into the Fraser, about 35 miles 
above Fort Alexander. Its breadth is from 40 to 100 yards, 
according to the different stages of the water. Passengers ferry 
across at two points ; one at the mouth, and the other 3 miles 
above. 

Tuesday, 26th. — Started at 8 a.m. A wet morning; rained 
most part of the day. Eoads frightful, up and down hill ; 
to the knees in mud. To see us splashing through it was a 
dismal spectacle. Crawled over logs of wood ; pushed our way 
through thick scrubwood; climbed up the steep and slippery 
sides of hills, and put our feet in every form and shape to 
secure a footing and avoid the worst parts of the boggy trail. 
I fancy we should make as a good subject for a picture as ( Bona- 
parte crossing the Alps.' The appearance of the country is very 



THE EOAD AS IT WAS. 229 

wild and sterile. Travelled only 14 miles. Lighted two large 
fires and cooked supper (slap-jacks and bacon). Some of our 
party were obliged to sleep on the wet ground, having no tent. 
Wednesday, 27th. — Faced the muddy trail at 8 a.m. A fine 
day, but the trail worse than it was yesterday. My boots full 
of water. Dead horses lying in every direction ; the wretched 
animals so overcome with fatigue and deficient feed that they 
died in the mire. Beaver swamps, marshes, dense forests, of 
pine and hemlock, and patches of poplar and willow trees the 
main features of the landscape. Arrived at Cottonwood at 
3 p.m., making only 11 miles journey to-day. Flour 60c, beef 
50c, bacon $1 12^c per lb., meals $2 each. 

Thursday, 28th. — Sharp frost this morning. Started at 6 a.m. 
Crossed Swift Eiver over a large tree as a substitute for a bridge. 
One man fell in, and we narrowly escaped the same fate. The 
trail is better, but hilly. Dead horses met with every mile. 
The country now changes in appearance ; barren and reefy hills 
indicating the presence of gold. Travelled 18 miles. About 
twenty of us slept on the floor of Beaver Pass-house. Swift 
Eiver, from 30 to 50 yards wide, is reached by a gradual 
descent, and crossed a little way above Lightning Creek. It 
flows through valleys containing good soil and occasional 
prairies. 

Friday, 29th. — Started at 7 a.m. Arrived at Van Winkle, 
Lightning Creek, about 1 p.m., making to-day a journey of 12 
miles. Slept on the floor of an empty house. Cottonwood, at 
the mouth of this creek, promises to become a trading depot of 
some importance. 

Saturday, 30th. — Started at 7 a.m. for William's Creek, dis- 
tant about 15 miles ; a very tedious journey, the trail being 
covered with snow to the depth of 3 feet. Arrived there about 
3 p.m., almost as fresh as when I left Victoria. Of all places 
I have seen — and I know the Australian ( diggings' — this is 
certainly the roughest. There are two townships a mile apart. 
Have not seen a square yard of clear ground on the creek ; not 
even a footpath. Have to crawl over fallen trees, stumps, roots, 
brushwood, &c. 



230 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



Table of Distances 

From Victoria to Douglas 

Douglas to Lilloet Lake 
Lilloet Lake to Pemberton 
Pemberton to Anderson Lake . 
Anderson Lake to Port Seaton 
Port Seaton to Lilloet 
Lilloet to Junction 
Junction to 70-mile House 
70-mile House to Bridge Creek 
Bridge Creek to Blue Tent 
Blue Tent to Davidson's (William's 
Davidson's to Mud Lake . 
Mud Lake to Alexandria . 
Alexandria to mouth of Quesnelle 
Mouth of Quesnelle to Cottonwood 
Cottonwood to Beaver Pass 
Beaver Pass to Van Winkle 
Van Winkle to William's Creek 





176 miles 




29£ 


» 




24 


» 




18 


» 




34 


V 




3i 


)) 




47 


» 




23 


V 




30 


)1 




28 


)f 


Lake} 


23 


V 




25 


)} 




19 


)) 




36 


» 




25 


V 




18 


» 




12 


)y 




15 


?> 



586 



Eeturning to the raouth of Harrison Eiver, at which we 
diverged from the Fraser, and resuming our ascent of that 
arterial highway through the colony, we soon arrive at 
Hope, still a trading depot of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
This place gave promise, in 1859 and 1860, of rapidly 
becoming an important centre for the distribution of goods 
to the mining camps on the Lower Fraser, and the region 
adjacent to the American border, seventy-four miles from 
Hope, and embracing Similkameen, OKanagan, and Eock 
Creek. Hope, at the same period, was the head of navi- 
gation on the lower section of the river. 

When I visited this locality in the latter of those years 
the town presented a lively aspect. On the trail to the 
mines of Similkameen, too, I met numerous pack-trains. 
Had Cariboo never been heard of, those engaged in the 
southern mines would long ere this. I venture to believe, 
have found the precious metal quite as abundant as it has 
proved to be in the northern part of the colony. But, 



HOPE AND YALE. 231 

directly the more seductive spell of Cariboo loomed before 
the vision of the miner, the less dazzling mines of Simil- 
kameen were abandoned ; and, consequently, the commer- 
cial barometer of Hope fell. In 1862, when I saw the 
town last, it was evidently in a state of collapse. Feeling 
disposed for some refreshment on landing, I repaired to 
the most respectable looking restaurant I could find, and 
was gravely informed by the proprietor that his whole 
stock of nutritive solids consisted of half a small pie ! 
The reason assigned was that he did not expect the 
steamer that day ! But there are brighter days in store 
for Hope. The rich border mines and the broad prairies 
of OKanagan will yet attract a large and permanent 
population, and from that district the route via Hope is 
the natural outlet to the Fraser. The auriferous wealth 
of the Kootanie country, which has only within the past 
six months become generally known on the coast of the 
North Pacific, will also communicate a powerful impulse 
to the growth of Hope. 

The site of this town is a lovely plateau on the banks 
of the river, environed with lofty and shaggy mountains. 
Immediately opposite is an islet formed by the rapids of 
the Fraser. Its distance from the mouth is ninety-five 
miles. Fifteen miles higher up is Yale, another trading 
port of the company, but now transformed into a rising 
town, containing several hundred inhabitants. This is 
the head of navigation on the Lower Fraser, and here 
goods, destined for Shuswap and Cariboo, via the new 
waggon-road through Lytton, are transhipped. A suc- 
cession of rapids is the most signal impediment offered 
to the navigation of this brief interval. In illustration of 
the strength of the current to be overcome, it may be 
noticed that, while it takes but half an hour to descend to 
Hope, six hours are occupied in ascending by high-pres- 



232 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 



sure steamers thence to Yale. One fatal explosion oc- 
cured near Emery's Bar a few years ago, destroying, with 
others, the life of the captain — a member of an ill-fated 
family. Four brothers in it fell martyrs to the high-pres- 
sure system in the waters of British Columbia and Oregon. 
Indeed, I have no reason to recall with satisfaction my 
own sensations when crossing the troublesome point re- 
ferred to. 

Our steamer happened to be the first that attempted 
the passage beyond Hope that year, subsequently to the 
river beginning to fall. The struggle was so intense on 
our reaching the gurgle of the rapids that, with a pressure 
of steam greatly beyond the weight allowed by law, no 
ascending motion for twenty minutes was perceptible. 
The captain, a reckless American, became, with other 
betting men on board, intensely excited (under the influ- 
ence of liquor) as to the issue of the dangerous experiment. 
Some were foolhardy enough to lay a wager that an ex- 
plosion would take place, and coolly discussed the expe- 
rience they should have when blown into the air. I 
ascertained afterwards — on the authority of one whose 
position in the boat qualified him to know — that, at the 
critical moment, while the question remained undecided 
as to whether the rapid or the steamer should conquer, a 
pipe connected with the boiler burst, and was regarded as 
the infallible precursor of our common destruction. 

The prodigal indifference of American steamboat men 
in regard to human life was characteristically exemplified 
in a conversation in which I took part. The enquiry was 
put to a Yankee as to the safety of a certain steamer. 
' She may do very well for passengers, but I wouldn't 
trust treasure in her,' was the unfeeling but candid 
reply. 

Leaving Yale by the waggon-road, completed in 1863, 



PA VILLON MOUNTAIN AND LYTTON. 233 

we pass through a deep and narrow gorge in the moun- 
tains called the Little Canon (Kanyon), through which 
the river forces its way with resistless momentum. This 
cleft in the Cascade range is the favourite resort of Indians 
in search of salmon. Their mode of fishing has been pre- 
viously described. 

The road, in some parts, is hewn out of solid and pre- 
cipitous rock ; and, with similar work done in rendering 
the Pavilion Mountain passable, this deserves to rank 
among the most astonishing achievements of the engineer- 
ing art. A bridge is thrown across the river eleven miles 
above Yale, where a ferry was formerly used. 

At the junction of the Thompson and the Fraser, forty- 
three miles below Lilloet, upon an elevated flat, 780 feet 
above sea level, is Lytton, a town named after the distin- 
guished gentleman who was Secretary of State for the 
Colonies during the administration under which the colony 
of British Columbia was founded. The waggon-road then 
turns in a north-easterly direction, until Cook's Ferry is 
reached, twenty-three miles above Lytton. 

The road via Lilloet joins the one by Lytton at Clinton, 
a point forty-seven miles from the former place, and 
seventy-five from the latter. Clinton has sprung up with 
mushroom growth. It has three respectable hotels, a 
saw-mill, a butcher's shop, two blacksmiths and farriers, 
a store of a miscellaneous description, stables, barns, 
brickyard, and several shanties, 'among which you observe 
the Celestial's sanctum, with an announcement over the 
door that he has the courage to undertake the "lively" 
operation of washing a Cariboo shirt.' 

A scheme was on foot last year, with every prospect of 
success, for making a road from about the 108th mile- 
post, on the present road to Antler Creek, via the Horse- 
fly and Beaver Valleys and the Fbrks of Quesnelle. This 



234 GENEKAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

track saves from seventy to eighty miles.* The present 
road, as the map plainly shows, is an absurdly roundabout 
one. 

Of course, the question is suggested to most persons 
acquainted with the country, why did Government allow 
the road to be taken that way ? Why were the con- 
tractors allowed to take the road to Soda Creek and start 
a steamboat in the Fraser to run thence to the mouth of 
Quesnelle ? The answer is, that the late governor, though 
paid a handsome salary for looking after the interests of 
the colony, never carried personal inspection so far. 

Of course, the contractors have made nothing out of the road 
or the steamboat. Oh, no ! Who could for a moment imagine 
such a thing ? It is so common for men of business or Grovern- 
ment officials in this part of the world to sacrifice themselves 
for philanthropic motives ! During the time the road was being 
made the managing contractor expressed to the William's Lake 
settlers on the old trail his willingness to take the road by way 
of their ranches (farms) in consideration of a small donation of 
#15,000 ! How kind ! But the next news was that the gentle- 
man who was wont to labour so hard for the general weal had 
become possessed of half a share in Deep Creek ranch, about 
14 miles from the present steamboat landing (one of the best 
stands for business) ; and, strange to say, notwithstanding the 
disinterestedness attributed to this gentleman, the road even- 
tually took a course by way of Deep Creek. Another thing 
still more extraordinary is, that the steamboat still continues to 
return at such an hour of the day that the miner on his way 
down is obliged to stay at Deep Creek House ! f 



* This route will open up a portion of the country hitherto unprospected, 
but believed to contain rich and extensive deposits of gold, which, from 
being situated in lower land, can be worked for a longer period during the 
year than the mines lying northward of it. Here, moreover, tracts of ex- 
cellent farming land exist capable of sustaining 500 families, in the vicinity 
of a growing and highly remunerative market. 

f Letter from a resident in British Columbia. 



feom William's lake to cariboo. 235 

It is to be hoped, the local Government will take cam, in 
giving out contracts in future, that covenants are entered 
into stringent enough to prevent individuals from schem- 
ing to benefit themselves at the expense of the country 
and to the inconvenience of the public. 

From William's Lake two paths leading to Cariboo 
proper are at the option of the traveller, as referred to 
in the diary already quoted. If he should wish to enter 
the mining region on the eastern side, he will take the 
route via Quesnelle and Antler, which is at once the 
shorter and more arduous. Should he prefer the western 
route, he will proceed to the right at Lake Valley House 
on William's Lake. The distance from that lake to Bich- 
field by the latter route, which, as we have seen, goes by 
the Upper Fraser and Cottonwood, is estimated by Lieut. 
Palmer at 149 miles ; and the distance by the eastern 
route, i. e. via Beaver Lake, Deep Creek Farm, and the 
town of Quesnelle, at 113 miles. The longer journey 
possesses the advantage of supplying more abundant feed 
for animals. 

Two routes from the coast to the northern mines of 
British Columbia are projected, both of which, when 
completed, will reduce considerably the time, expense, 
and strength consumed by miners and packers who now 
travel by Yale and Douglas. 

The route by North Bentinck Arm was the first of these 
submitted to public attention. It was travelled over by 
Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1792, and re- explored a 
few years since. So much importance did the Govern- 
ment attach to it that a party of Koyal Engineers was 
appointed to examine and report upon it. The voyage from 
Victoria to Bentinck Arm is nearly 500 miles. Numerous 
deep-water indentations are passed in sailing to it, extend- 
ing inland from 20 to 100 miles, and bearing severally 



236 GENEEAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

the names of arms, inlets, sounds, and canals. In the 
vicinity of some of these, glaciers, rarely to be met with 
elsewhere, are of frequent occurrence, and near Knight's 
Canal there is a river said to flow for 15 miles through a 
magnificent glacier tunnel, 100 feet in height and from 
100 to 150 yards in breadth. 

North Bentinck Arm is 25 miles in length and from 
1^ to 2^ miles in breadth. Groups of mountains, of gra- 
duating altitude, tumbled through rounded masses, snowy 
peaks, pine-clad slopes, rugged cliffs and precipices, 
shapeless masses of trappean and granite rocks, soaring to 
vast heights, gloomy valleys, and picturesque water-falls 
— these alternations of wilderness and beauty constitute 
the essential features of the scenery. At the head of this 
arm the Bella Coola or JSTookhalk Eiver discharges. The 
stream is 80 miles in length, and drains a portion of the 
Cascade range. The first serious obstruction to road- 
making to be met with is from the crossing of the 
Cheddeakulk to the foot of the Great Slide, where the 
mountains crowd upon both sides of the stream. Slides, 
occasioned by fragmentary trap-rocks running directly 
into the river or into low swampy land contiguous to 
it, are to be met with, varying from 300 to 600 feet 
in height. These slides are capped by cliffs averaging 
1,500 feet in altitude above the river. The next barrier 
of special consequence to the traveller is the Precipice. 
This peculiar mountain mass is composed of basaltic rock 
1,350 feet in height, and stands between the forks of the 
brook Hotharko, which runs in a south-easterly and west- 
northerly direction. The ascent of this mountain is re- 
markably steep. The officer in command of the Govern- 
ment exploring party, in describing this peculiar formation, 
says : — 

The trail at first runs up the backbone of a singular spur, 



BENTINCK ARM ROUTE. 237 

winding further up among crumbling fragments of rocks, and 
finally reaching by a dizzy path the summit of a perpendicular 
wall of rock, 100 feet high, which crowns the mass, and from 
which it derives its name. The cliff is composed of blocks of 
columnar basalt in the shape of multangular prisms, averaging, 
in their perfect state, about two cubic feet in size, usually 
stained of a dull red colour, and somewhat vesicular. The 
blocks are fixed together as perfectly as if by human agency, 
and the layers are horizontal ; thus on the summit, which is 
perfectly level, patches are met with in which, the scant soil 
having been washed away, the jointing of these singular stones, 
almost resembling mosaic fragment, is clearly visible; and 
towards the edges of the cliff large portions of the rock have 
crumbled away, leaving standing in many places abrupt columnar 
masses of as much as 50 feet in height, which, viewed from a 
shorter distance, almost assume the appearance of massive, 
artificial, and battlemented structures. 

But the two grave obstacles spoken of — c the Slide ' and 
6 the Precipice ' — may be avoided when the road is being 
made : the one by not leaving the Atnarko till reaching 
the mouth of the Hotharko ; the other by following the 
south fork of the Hotharko, and rising to the level of the 
Precipice by an easy inclination. 

Arriving at the summit of the Precipice, 3,840 feet 
above the level of the sea, the great elevated plateau is 
entered. This lies between the Cascades and the Fraser. 
An expanse of waving forest, broken only by lakes and 
marshes, meets the eye looking eastward. The peaks of 
the Cascade range lie to the west, and lonely massive 
heights, interesting from their very irregularity, stretch 
away to the south. It is the opinion of Lieut. Palmer that 
in emerging from the Cascades the principal difficulties of 
travel are past, and that there is no impracticability in 
making a road across the plateau to strike the Fraser 
Valley at almost any point south of the fifty-third parallel. 



238 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

The Bute Inlet is situated much further south, being 
near the northern entrance to Johnstone Strait, and is 
claimed by Mr. Alfred Waddington, the talented and 
enterprising projector of this second route, to be incom- 
parably superior to any of the other routes specified. 
The country through which it passes does not differ 
materially in contour from that traversed by the Bentinck- 
Arm route, except that it includes ninety miles of lake and 
river navigation between Bute Inlet and Cottonwood 
Eiver. 

It is natural that Mr. Waddington should desire to 
make his scheme appear as favourable as possible in con- 
trast with those of his rivals. Still, making every allow- 
ance for the influence of partiality in this respect, I think 
the following comparative statement may be accepted as 
substantially correct. The measurement relates to the 
distance between Victoria and Lightning Creek. 

Bute Inlet Bentinck Arm Yale 
Boute Boute Boute 

Miles Miles Miles 

Sea, lake, and river navigation . . 305 . . 560 . . 182 
Land travel 158 . . 178 . . 359 

463 738 541 

No. of days consumed in conveying freight 22 . . 28 . . 37 
No. of loadings and unloadings . . 5 . . — . . 14 

Cents Cents Cents 

Freight, per lb 10 . . 15 . . 55 

There are two routes to the Shuswap Diggings. The 
one that starts from Hope and passes Nicholas Lake, it 
would be somewhat perilous to attempt, except under 
the guidance of one acquainted with the track which leads 
over mountains where the snow lies deep till near mid- 
summer. The other route is vid Yale and Lytton, 
following the waggon-road after leaving Lytton for about 
52 miles. This conducts to a point nearly opposite Cache 



KOUTE TO SHUSWAP. 239 

Creek, and one mile beyond the house of James Orr. 
Here the Bonaparte Eiver is crossed to the eastward, 
when a trail is found going off toward Cache Creek Valley. 
This must be kept for 14 miles, as far as Mr. Bate's ranch. 
Thence a walk of 6 miles brings us to the foot of Kama- 
loops Lake, — Saviner's ferry. The trail has then to be 
taken to the north side of the lake. Twenty-five miles 
more passed over and we arrive at Fort Kamaloops. 
From Fort Kamaloops to the Grand Prairie embraces 40 
miles, and from the latter place to Cherry Creek on the 
Shuswap Lake is about 70 miles. The trail passes 
through a vast extent of fine open farming country, and 
the land for the most part is so level that, without much 
difficulty, a loaded waggon might be drawn over a large 
section of it. 



240 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



Diggings at Hope — Yale — Similkameen — OKanagan — Rock Creek — Tran- 
quille and North Rivers— Kamaloops Lake — Quesnelle — Antler — Cariboo 
— Bed Rock Flume and Artesian Mining Companies — Remarkable In- 
stances of Success— Prices at the Northern Mines — Shuswap and Koo- 
tanie Diggings — Mining Prospects on the north-west of the Fraser — 
Mining Laws. 

Taking the mining districts in the order of their discovery 
we have, first, 

The Fort Hope Diggings. — These primarily attracted 
the bulk of mining adventurers on their arrival in 1858. 
The bars,* which excited most notice for their productive- 
ness at that time, were respectively known as the Victoria 
Bar, the Puget Sound, French, Travalgar, Mariaville, 
Union, Cornish, Prospect, Blue Nose, and Hudson. An 
official statement shows the miners at work in these loca- 
lities to have averaged, as minimum earnings, between 
16<s. Sd. and 21. per day. ' Two miners realised in six 
weeks 270/., and their confidence in the productiveness of 
the country was so great that they afterwards invested 

* l Bars ' are accumulations of sand and general detritus which cover the 
ancient channel of the river, having formerly been washed down and de- 
posited by the water of the stream, when flowing in its old bed. They 
constitute the present banks of the river in many places, and are all more or 
less auriferous. i Benches ' is a term applied to the auriferous banks when 
rising in the form of terraces. 



YALE AND SIMILKAMEEN DIGGINGS. 241 

that sum in the purchase of another claim.' A silver lead 
of great promise is being worked in the neighbourhood of 
Hope. The company formed to develope it is sustained 
by the limited sum of 6,000/. ; the stock consists of 600 
shares. But without an increase of capital, which cannot 
for some time, I fear, be commanded, unless the interest 
of the present company is transferred to one more able, 
organized in the parent country, the mine is not likely to 
be very productive. In October 1864, diggings were 
found on the river Coquahalla, near Hope, averaging $5 
per day to the hand. 

Fort Yale Diggings. — These embrace the ground on 
the river banks between Hope and Yale, and that extend- 
ing some distance above the latter town. Hill's, Emery's, 
and Boston Bars were the most noted in this district for 
richness. ' As a rule,' says an official document, prepared 
in 1858, 'they (the miners) have been successful, and 
many have returned to their homes possessors of from 
416/. to 830/.' But the mines of the Lower Fraser, while 
by no means exhausted, fail to satisfy any longer the now 
more elevated expectations of the whites, whose content- 
ment with moderate returns has been spoiled by the 
'big strikes' made in Cariboo. The quieter field of labour 
around Hope and Yale is therefore abandoned, almost 
exclusively, to Chinamen, whose wages average from 
85. 6d. to 1/. per day — the expense of their living being 
not more than 2s. per day. 

The Similkameen, OKanagan, and Rock Creek Dig- 
gings. These localities are sufficiently near each other in 

proximity to the southern border to be grouped together. 
It was ascertained that the precious metal existed here in 
1860. No sooner was the discovery made than trails 
were cut, by direction of the Government, for the con- 
venience of any who might desire to ' prospect ' the dis- 

R 



242 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

trict. ' On the country being examined (at Similkameen ), 
" prospects " were so good that all the miners made pre- 
paration for sluicing, and other costly works for mining, 
on a large scale.' * ' The earnings in the summer of 1861 
averaged 3/. 6s. to the hand per day. About 200 miners, 
of whom 150 were Chinamen, were at work in this dis- 
trict. A party of three took 50Z. in three days ; and the 
rocker used in wet diggings yielded from 16«s. Sd. to 
11. 13s. 4cd. to the hand.' — Times Correspondent. I have 
had opportunities of personally conversing with men who 
acknowledged that they had realised 31. As. 6d. per day to 
the hand. 

In May 1861, Governor Douglas reported that a pro- 
specting party had found grain and scale gold of fine 
quality in all the streams flowing into the western part of 
OKanagan Lake, which is over seventy miles long. In the 
summer of the same year there were twenty-six miners at 
work who averaged 16s. Sd. a clay. Sixteen streams out 
of nineteen flowing into the lake had been c prospected,' 
and were found to yield gold. 

Gold was extracted from one claim in Eock Creek, at 
the junction of that stream with Colville Eiver, in Feb- 
ruary 1861, to the value of 198/. in six weeks : another 
yielded 4J. per day. Mr. Cox, the gold commissioner 
at this point, says (May 1861) : 'We prospected nine 
streams, all tributaries of Lake OKanagan, and found gold 
in each, averaging from 30 to 90 cents a pan.' He then 
mentions other good prospects, which he deemed it 
advisable not to make public, lest a check should be given 
to operations then in a state of progress. ' I ascertained,' 
says Governor Douglas, • from the testimony of the miners 
generally, that none of those who had succeeded in open- 
ing gold claims were making anything less than U. a 

* Parliamentary. Papers on British Columbia, Part IV. p. 30. 



QUESNELLE AND ANTLER. 243 

day. ... A party of three white men, after paying all 
expenses, during the mining season saved 2,400/. : 20/. 
a day was sometimes made.' — Times Correspondent. 

The Diggings of Tranquille and North Rivers, and 
Kamaloops Lake. — Seven miners (and many more whose 
gains have never been made public) are known to have 
realised 3/. 6s. Sd. per day each on Lake Kamaloops. A 
friend who explored on the Thompson River, close by, 
assured me that without difficulty he gained 11. per day 
with the rocker ; but it should not be forgotten that 
he was an old Ballarat miner, and that for any novice 
to set to work in the same neighbourhood, hoping 
immediately for the same result, would be to incur dis- 
appointment. 

Quesnelle and Antler Diggings.— The early pioneers of 
the country argued that the fine gold of the Lower Fraser 
was formed by the disintegration of quartz veins, from 
which coarse gold was separated by the abrasion of 
water, carried down streams, and rendered finer by 
aqueous action as it was rolled toward the ocean. This 
correct theory led to the examination of certain tributaries 
of the Fraser, directly north of Alexandra, and late in 
1859, gold of the quality anticipated was discovered on 
the Quesnelle River, and in 1860 the finding of Antler 
Creek was proclaimed. No sooner did this occur than 
the hopeful mines near the southern boundary were 
deserted. 

On Quesnelle River 600 white miners were successfully 
employed in the summer of 1860, earning from 21. to hi. 
per clay ; and several pieces of gold were picked up in 
this region weighing from 6 to 8 oz. — an ounce being 
equal to 3/. Ss. sterling, and sometimes more. Ferguson's 
Bar in this vicinity, yielded, in 1860, as much as 12/. to 
the hand per clay ; but after the pay streak near the river 

R 2 



244 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

became exhausted, the profits decreased to 3/. per day. 
Bed-rock numing will yet compel this place to yield con- 
siderable treasure. 

The bed-rock of Antler Creek, on which the gold is 
found, crops out at many points but a short distance from 
the surface. The absence of precipitous banks renders 
the working of this stream more easy and less expensive 
than most of the creeks in the upper country. ' Setting 
the workable ground,' says Commissioner Nind, ' at a low 
estimate, there is room here for at least 1,000 miners.' 
' We are daily,' sa}^s Governor Douglas, ' receiving the 
most extraordinary accounts of the fabulous wealth of 
Antler Creek. . . . Authentic intelligence has come of a 
company of four men, who were making regularly from 
16 to 37 ounces a day — from 4 to 9^ ounces each.' By 
numing, another company of four men washed out with 
cradles 36 ounces of gold in one day. The Eev. Mr. 
Brown was present when 200Z. was taken from the sluice- 
boxes as the result of one day's work. In the summer of 
1861, the aggregate yield of Antler was over 2,000/. per 
day. 

New hands raw at work (says the e Times ' Correspondent) 
took out gold to the value of 201. per day. A Mr. Smith earned 
63 J oz. of gold per day (worth 1851. 6s.), his claim averaging 
26 or 30 oz. a day. . . . When the bed rock was laid bare it 
was found studded or paved with lumps of gold, and every 
shovelful contained a considerable amount ; and in some cases 
to the value of \0l. The stuff required no washing, as the nug- 
gets or pellets of gold could be picked out by the hand. . . . 
The rocker yielded 50 oz. of gold of a forenoon. ... At a 
later period the creek yielded 100 to 130 oz. a day from small 
claims. . . . Since May ['60, including a period of a few months] 
two men have taken out 3,7501. with a rocker. From four 
companies which mined on Antler Creek, the return of three 
weeks' operations is this : — One company of three men, 16,6601. ; 



CARIBOO DISTRICT. 245 

three others took out 7,5001. ; five men 5,2001. ; and six men 
5,000/. 

A company was formed last year, called ' Antler Bed- 
Eock Flume Company (Limited),' for the purpose of 
applying to the bed of the creek the important process. in- 
dicated in the designation they have adopted, The capital 
proposed to be raised is 12,000/., in 2,400 shares of 5/. 
each. The company have obtained from the Colonial 
Government a ten years' lease of the bed of Antler Creek, 
16 J> miles in length by 100 feet in width, to be worked 
by an hydraulic apparatus in connection with fluming. It 
is stated in the prospectus that much of the ground on the 
creek, in 1861, yielded at the rate of 200/. per square 
foot. The incipient character of mining operations in the 
country may be judged of when it is mentioned that heavy 
mechanical appliances were introduced last year for the 
first time. If a few creeks and bars yield returns so 
enormous, with the aid of the most primitive contri- 
vances in a country still comparatively unexplored, we 
surely have in this fact an unmistakeable earnest of the 
colossal fortunes yet to be made when larger capital is 
invested, the interior better known, and machinery more 
extensively in use. 

The Cariboo District. — This famous region is studded 
with mountains closely packed together, of considerable 
altitude, and often presenting thickly-wooded slopes. 
Tremendous masses, tumbled and irregular in character, 
with summits from 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the level of 
the sea, form centres of radiation for subordinate ranges. 
Of these the most familiar to ' Caribooites ' are Mounts 
Snowshoe, Burdett, and Agnes — the latter being commonly 
known as the ' Bald Mountain.' Language fails to do 
justice to the impressive grandeur and sublimity of these 



246 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

spurs of the Eocky Mountains. Perhaps the image that 
conveys the most suitable idea of this singular formation 
is, that of a molten sea, lashed into gigantic billows, which, 
at the very height of the storm, had been suddenly 
petrified. 

This aggregation of mountains is drained by numerous 
streams, of every imaginable size, from tiny rivulets to 
large brooks, called in local parlance, ' creeks and gulches,' 
which wind among canons and valleys, apparently to and 
from every point of the compass, discharging themselves 
at length in prominent tributaries of the Fraser. From 
the melting of winter snows and the frequent rains of 
summer, these streams are subject to an increase of 
volume, which is occasionally troublesome to the miners. 
Gold is found in greatest abundance close to the moun- 
tains, whence they take their rise. It is an additional 
testimony to the clairvoyant gift of that renowned geo- 
grapher Sir Eoderick Murchison, who so marvellously 
predicted the discovery of gold in Australia, that several 
years before the existence of the precious metal was known 
in British Columbia, he hazarded the assertion that it 
would probably be found in large quantities in this very 
region of Cariboo. 

The richest sinkings hitherto explored are situated on 
the following creeks : Keighley's, Goose, Cunningham's, 
Lightning, Jack of Clubs, Grouse, Chisholm, Sovereign, 
Fountain, Harvey, Nelson, Steven's, Snowshoe, Last 
Chance, Anderson California, Thistle, Sugar, Willow, 
McCallum, Tababoo, Conklin, Lowhee, "Williams, &c. 
Up to the present, the last-named of these is acknowledged 
to have been the most productive. It takes its rise near 
the Bald Mountain, and flowing swiftly through a deep 
valley, past the town of Eichfield, unites with Willow 
Eiver about six miles below the town, and thence wends 



ARTESIAN MINING COMPANY. 247 

towards the Fraser. Shortly after the exploration of 
William's Creek, a claim, owned by a person to whom I 
am indebted for the information, yielded in one day 
1,300/. The entire sum realised from a space of 80 feet 
square, was about 24,000/. Three partners in a certain 
claim (two of whom are well known to me) netted 8,000/. 
each, in a period of four or five months. Several part- 
ners in another claim (one of whom verified the statement 
to me personally) made 1,400/. to their individual share. 

8 The Artesian Gold Mining Company (Limited),' was 
organised last year, with capital stock amounting to 
#132,000, divided into 2,640 shares of #50 each. This 
company have obtained a charter with a lease of twenty 
years, of one half mile in length, by three eighths of a 
mile in breadth of mining ground, situated on this creek. 
The extent of ground leased is equivalent to 520 mining 
claims of 100 feet square. Their object is to prospect 
and explore the ground thoroughly with an artesian boring 
machine, so that an artesian shaft can be sunk to the 
bed rock in from four to six days — working two ' shifts' * 
per clay. Under the most favourable circumstances, the 
ordinary time consumed in sinking a shaft with pick and 
shovel to the bed rock, at a depth of 40 or 60 feet, is from 
six weeks to two months. The cost of sinking thus, by 
manual labour, is from #3,000 to #10,000. The artesian 
shaft can be made for less than #500. The augur or 
worm at the end of the boring tool is so constructed as to 
bring up every time it is raised about a panful of dirt, by 
washing which the ground can be thoroughly examined 
for gold from top to bottom. The machine can be easily 
worked by three men. Water, which is the great obstruc- 
tion to be contended with in open shafts, is rather an ad- 

* Working time with a set of hands. 



248 THE MINES OF BEITISH COLUMBIA. 

vantage in boring an artesian shaft. It is also the intention 
of the company to fit up a steam-engine of twenty or 
thirty horse power, for pumping water and lifting dirt at 
all seasons of the year. The name of my esteemed friend, 
Mr. J. P. Cranford, the secretary, is a sufficient guarantee for 
the thorough respectability of the enterprise, which I have 
no doubt will be followed by others of the same description. 
That a correct judgment may be formed of the probable 
value of the ground leased, and of the substantial basis 
on which the company rest their hopes of success, the 
following facts, in reference to the yield of claims on this 
creek,* have been carefully collected and published in 
their prospectus : — 

The Adams Company averaged over $50,000 to each 100 
feet; the Steel claim gave $120,000 out of 80 feet; the Cun- 
ningham $270,000, chiefly out of 500 feet; the Burns gave 
$140,000 out of 80 feet ; Loring Diller & Co. obtained $240,000, 
chiefly out of 50 feet; the Canadian obtained $180,000 out of 
120 feet; the Never Sweat gave $100,000, chiefly out of 120 
feet; the Moffat gave $90,000, chiefly out of 50 feet; the 
Tinker gave $120,000, chiefly out of 140 feet; the Watty gave 
$130,000 out of 100 feet; besides the Black Jack Tunnel, 
Barker, Baldhead, Abbot, Grier, Griffin or Point Wilson, 
Beauregard, Baby, Cameron, Prince of Wales, and numbers of 
others of world-wide fame. But we cannot ascertain facts as to 
what they have yielded.f 

In 1863, about 4,000 miners were engaged on this 
creek, scattered over a space of seven miles ; and though 
the majority of the claims taken up had not then been 
opened, many paid returns that in any other gold producing 

* The gold in William's Creek gives in fineness, -830. 

■]■ A relative of Mr. Cameron whose claim is mentioned in this list assured 
me, when in Canada a few months since, that this gentleman had returned 
to his native colony from Cariboo with not less than #240,000. 



LOWHEE CREEK. 249 

country would be considered remunerative. Forty at 
least yielded handsomely, and from about twenty was 
taken out steadily, every twenty-four hours, from 70 to 
400 oz. In one instance — exceptional, of course — 103 lbs. 
of gold was extracted in a single day ; and I conversed 
with a partner of that company who brought down to 
Victoria, as his individual portion, 15,000/. Between 
October 1862, and January 1863, 60,000/. was taken 
out of three claims, previously unprospected. A lad, 
so far reduced as to accept a situation in Victoria, from 
which he hardly received remuneration enough to pro- 
cure the necessaries of life, repaired to the mines in 1863, 
and in a few months returned with 2,000/. 

Lowhee Creek promises to equal, if not surpass Wil- 
liam's in richness. Several companies on that stream have 
reached the bed-rock, where gold is deposited in fabulous 
quantities. For a considerable time the claim of Sage Miller 
yielded between 300 oz. and 400 oz. per day, and after hav- 
ing been worked nearly two full seasons, we learn by late 
intelligence that it still gives 80 oz. a day. The Chittenden 
claim, only recently opened, averages about the same 
amount. A letter, dated from Cariboo, in June 1864, states 
that Dr. Foster, a partner in the Plumbago Company, 
went down one day, after the water had been shut off, 
and picked up in his claim $400. 

The Ericsson claim, on Conklin gulch, June 3, 1864, 
yielded 420 oz., and next day one thousand oz. The 
steamer ' Enterprise ' arrived at Victoria, from New West- 
minster, August 10, 1864, with over twelve hundred 
pounds weight of gold. 

Mr. O'Keilly, gold commissioner, writing to the Govern- 
ment in June last, from Eichfield, says : — ' I have much 
pleasure in reporting that a company known as " the 
Butcher," on Lightning, being a hill claim, situated above 



250 THE MINES OF BKITISH COLUMBIA. 

the town of Van Winkle,which yielded largely last year, but 
soon after lost the lead, and since then has laboured hard, 
spent a large sum of money in prospecting, has again been 
rewarded by a very rich strike, $5,300 having been taken 
out in the past three days ; one nugget of solid gold being 
the largest yet obtained in the Cariboo district, weighing 
30^ oz.' 

A copy of the ' Victoria Chronicle,' of Nov. 1864, says : 
— ' The Aurora Company, on the 20th tilt., took out 
800 oz., and on the 24th, 618 oz. of gold. The Moffat 
was paying about $1,000 to the share per week. The 
Saw-mill boys struck a good prospect on Saturday, and 
adjourned to champagne and coffee. The prospect was 
$10 to the pan ; next day they took out $20 to four 
buckets.' Great returns are also looked for next year 
from Cunningham's Creek, which last autumn attracted 
special attention. 

Instances of even remarkable success are much too 
numerous to be all recited here. On the other hand, let it 
not be supposed that those which have been specified are 
intended to give the impression that prizes are the rule, and 
blanks fall to the lot of none. It is not reasonable to 
expect that in an occupation to which skill can be applied 
to so limited an extent, the majority can escape disap- 
pointment. The ancient beds of creeks which contain 
auriferous deposits are generally of a tortuous character, 
and overgrown with underwood and pine. The ' striking' 
of the gold lead, while not entirely, is in a considerable 
degree, therefore, attributable to luck. 

The ground in the vicinity of a creek being saturated 
with water, the shafts which are sunk from 35 to 70 feet, 
are liable to incursions of water, so rapid as frequently 
to baffle incessant pumping to master it. Many claims, 
unquestionably rich, have been abandoned by the miners 



PROSPECTS OF CARIBOO. 251 

from this cause, and it operated not a little, in 1864, to 
hinder the effective development of others. But this diffi- 
culty will henceforth be overcome in Cariboo, by the 
agency of steam-pumps and bed-rock drains. 

It is plain that placer-mining in a country, only 
lasting for some ten or twelve years, cannot afford per- 
manent employment to immigrants. It is quartz-crush- 
ing that must eventually form the principal source of 
mining income in this colony, as it now does in California. 
Gold-bearing quartz has already been discovered. One of 
the ' leads' is formed on Keithley's Creek, and is said to 
contain $10 worth of gold to the lb. of quartz. In the 
vein, which is 18 inches thick, there is a large percentage 
of silver and some galena. If, as I believe to be the case, 
the mountains of Cariboo are but an extension of the 
Sierra of California, there is no reason to doubt that the 
quartz formation of the former, when it receives that 
amount of attention from British capitalists which is com- 
mensurate with its importance, will become astonishingly 
productive. There will then be no longer cause for com- 
plaint of the shortness of the working season in Cariboo, 
for quartz mining and tunnelling can be carried on all the 
year round. Nuggets mixed with quartz have been 
found at Lowhee, weighing 16 oz. I repeat that to organ- 
ise the apparatus requisite for conducting quartz-crushing 
operations, associated capital is indispensable ; and it 
may be confidently asserted that no country on the globe 
at the present moment offers such magnificent induce- 
ments in this respect, to men of energy and means, as 
British Columbia does. Not a tithe of the Cariboo region 
is yet explored, and this area of country embraces, never- 
theless, but an insignificant section of the gold-bearing 
streams that head towards the Bock Mountains from 
Peace Eiver in the north to Bock Creek, on the confines 



252 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

of Washington Territory. I have no hesitation in saying 
that, in three years from now, the advance in the yield of 
gold in proportion to the population will be beyond con- 
ception. 

Advices from Cariboo to November 1, 1864, inform 
us that the weather continued delightful — sunshiny and 
warm — more like May than November weather. Markets 
quite overstocked. Flour selling at 32c. to 35c. per lb. 
bacon, 50c. to 75c. per lb. ; butter, $1 25c. per lb. ; 
coffee, $1 per lb. ; beef, 40c. per lb. ; mutton, 40c. to 
45c. per lb. ; rice 45c. to 50c. per lb. ; beans, 30c. to 
40c. per lb. ; sugar, 50c. to 62^c. per lb. ; tea, $1 to 
SI 25c. per lb. ; syrup, 65c. per lb. ; potatoes, 20c. to 
25c. per lb. ; turnips, 10c. to 20c. per lb. ; cabbage, 
35c. per lb. ; onions, 50c. per lb. ; nails, 50c. to 62^c. 
per lb. Clothing, a shade above New Westminster prices ; 
cordwood, $12 per cord ; sawn lumber, 10c. to 12^c. per 
foot ; stakes, $5 per hundred. Miners' wages, $10 per 
day of ten hours. The population in William's Creek was 
about 1,500 ; about 700 or 800 of whom would probably 
winter there. There was very little sickness on the 
creek. 

The Shuswap Diggings, east of Lytton, about 150 miles, 
are likely, when better known, to become the centre of an 
important settlement. 

The Kootanie Diggings. — The district so named lies close 
to the foot of the Eocky Mountains, and also to the United 
States boundary. Eumours have been in circulation as 
to the existence of gold in that section of the country 
for two years, but it was only in 1864 that the ground 
was thoroughly tested, and the discovery will probably 
turn out to be the most important yet made in British 
Columbia. 

These mines have the peculiar advantage of being in alti- 



KOOTANIE MINES. 253 

tucle much lower, and in latitude much more southerly, 
than those of Cariboo, and thus are more conveniently 
situated for being worked during the greater part of the 
year. They are, besides, more easy of access for migra- 
tions of those who are dissatisfied from time to time with 
the mines of Boise and Idaho. 

As the mines of Kootanie (or as it is often spelt Koota- 
nais) are destined ere long to become as familiar to the 
English public as were those of Cariboo a few years since, 
I am happy in being able to place before the reader two 
official documents, both of recent dates, which will convey 
a more trustworthy notion of this auriferous region than 
could be afforded by any private communication. The 
first of these documents is a despatch from Mr. Haynes, 
gold commissioner for the district, to the Government. It 
is dated Kootanais, Wild Horse Creek, August 30, 1864 : — 

To the Colonial Secretary. 

Sir, — I have the honour to submit for the information of 
His Excellency the Governor the subjoined facts relative to the 
mines in this district. 

There are about one thousand men here, including miners, 
shopkeepers, and labourers. The mines as far as discovered on 
this creek extend for about four miles and a half, and are divided 
into five hundred claims of 100 feet each, including creek and 
bar. 

The following list shows the amounts taken daily from ten of 
the best claims on the stream : 

Co. —Six men employed. Yield per day, $400— during 

week ending 3rd September, 134 oz. 

Co. — Twelve men working. Yield per day, $200 — 

during week ending 3rd September, 158 oz. 

Co. — Thirteen men employed. Yield per day $474 — 

during week ending 3rd September, 158 oz. 

Co. — Fourteen men employed. Yield per day, $429 — 

during week ending 3rd September, 143 oz. Amount of gold 



254 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

taken from this claim during the month of August last 719^ oz., 
or #12,948, at the value of gold here. 

• Co. — Twelve men employed. Yield per day, #1,044 — 

four days' sluicing, #4,176. 

Co. — Nine men employed. Yield per day, #108 — during 

the week ending 3rd September, 36 oz. 

& Co. — Fifteen men employed. Yield per day, #600 — 

during week ending 3rd September, #3,600, or 200 oz. 

Co. — Seventeen men employed. Yield per day, #720 — 

during week ending 3rd September, #4,320, or 240 oz. 

Co. — Twelve men employed. — Amount taken out per 

day, #200 — during week ending 3rd September, #1,200, or 
66^ oz. 

Co. — Four men employed, rocking. Yield per day #133 

— during week ending 3rd September, #798, or 44J oz. 

Ordinary claims here pay from #20 to #30 a day to the hand. 

A large ditch is now being made here by Messrs. & Co., 

at an altitude to command the hill on which this town stands, 
and which prospects well. When this work shall be completed a 
much greater number of claims can be opened than at present, 
as there is a great lack of water. 

A nugget weighing 37 ounces was found in the claim of 

& Co., on the 2nd inst. This is a beautiful specimen of pure 
gold, and, I believe, the largest found north of the parallel. 
Several pieces of gold, weighing from one to nine ounces, have 
also been picked up here. 

Labourers are paid at the rate of seven dollars a day. 

There are about fifteen men living on Finlay's Creek, distant 
fifty miles from this, but owing to the frequent freshets to which 
that stream is subject, nothing worth mentioning in the way of 
mining has been done up to the present time. 

No mines in addition to the above-mentioned have as yet been 
discovered in this district. 

The Indians in this part of the country are harmless and well 
disposed. I made it my duty to meet the chief of this tribe — 
Michael — and his principal retainers here a few days after my 
arrival, and explained, to them that His Excellency the Governor 
would protect the interests of the red men as well as the white ; 



MR. birch's report. 255 

and further, that His Excellency would expect them to act in a 
right and proper manner. After treating them to a good din- 
ner and making them a few presents, they left well pleased. 

A great deal of prospecting is being done here in the way of 
tunnelling, sinking shafts, and otherwise, so that I have before 
the close of the season to have the honour of reporting fresh 
discoveries. I have, &c, 

John C. Haynes. 

List of prices of provisions at Wild Horse Creek, District of 
Kootanais : flour 40c. ; bacon, $\ ; beans, 50c. ; sugar, 70c. ; 
coffee, $1 ; tea, $2 25 ; beef, 30c. ; dried apples, 60c. ; butter, 
$1 50 ; lard, 80c. ; tobacco, $2 50 ; candles, 75c. 

From the British Columbia ' Government Gazette,' we 
obtain the following report of the late official trip to the 
Kootenay country by Mr. Colonial Secretary Birch : — 

Colonial Secretary's Office, New Westminster, 
October 31, 1864. 

Sir, — I have the honour to report to you my return from 
visiting the Kootenay District. I much regret that my absence 
has been prolonged beyond the time I had anticipated, in con- 
sequence of the far greater distance of the mining portion of 
that district from the town of Hope than I had been led to 
expect from the reports that had reached New Westminster 
before my departure. 

Leaving Hope on 2nd September, in company with Mr. 
Bushby and Mr. Evans, we crossed the Cascade range to Prince- 
ton, a distance of 75 miles, in three days, and following the 
beautiful valley of the Similkameen, we reached the custom- 
house at Osoyoos on the 8th of September. 

From Osoyoos we proceeded by way of Eock Creek, where we 
found several Chinamen and five white men employed in mining 
on the lower portion of the stream. The latter were taking out 
from 6 to 8 dollars a day to the hand, and, from information I 
was enabled to gather on the spot, it only requires an influx of 
miners to develope the resources of this once famous creek. 

After leaving this we followed the N-whoy-alpit-kwu, or Kettle 



256 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

River, as far as Boundary Creek, where we left the old Colville 
trail and proceeded by the new Hudson's Bay Company's trail, 
which continues through British territory, and after some 15 
miles struck the old trail again on the Grande Prairie. With 
the exception of a very few miles the entire route from Rock 
Creek lies through a fine rolling prairie country, thinly wooded 
and abounding in bunch grass. 

The Grande Prairie is a magnificent level plateau of some 15 
miles in length by 8 in breadth, admirably adapted for grazing 
and agriculture ; it is almost encircled by the Kettle River, the 
banks of which for some distance on either side consist of a deep 
rich soil. 

My intention was to have continued on the new trail to Fort 
Shepherd without passing into American territory, but on learn- 
ing from the Indians whom we met on the Grande Prairie that 
the trail from Fort Shepherd to the Kootenay Lake was extremely 
rough and bad for horses, I deemed it prudent to proceed to Fort 
Shepherd by way of Colville, where I was enabled to have some 
of the horses, which had become foot-sore, properly shod at the 
United States barracks, through the kindness of the officer in 
command of the garrison. 

After a delay of two days at Colville, we started for Fort Shep- 
herd, a newly erected trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
situated in a wild and barren spot, some 2 miles northward of the 
Boundary Line, and 40 miles from Colville. 

Here we had to swim the horses in a very rapid part of the 
Columbia a short distance above the Pend d'Oreille Eiver. 

I find that the trail from this point to the Kootenay Valley, 
which passes over a densely wooded mountain, a distance of some 
20 miles, was opened out in the early spring by the merchants 
of Colville, but what additions or improvements have since been 
made by the employes of the Hudson's Bay Company, I am at a 
loss to conceive. 

No attempt has been made to grade the steep inclines in any 
way, and it seems to have been the ambition of the road party 
to carry the trail through as many swamps as possible, taking 
the trail over some high bluff only to return again to the 
swamps beneath. 



MR. birch's report. 257 

The best evidence I can give of the utter uselessness of the 
work done under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company, is 
in the disaster which has happened to one of the Company's own 
pack-trains, which started to cross this portion of the trail at 
the same time as myself, under the charge of Mr. Linklater ; 
this train was 14 days in reaching the Kootenay Valley, and lost 
six horses, one of which disappeared with its entire pack of 
250 lbs of flour. 

As the trail at present exists it would be impossible for 
packers to pass through this portion without carrying food for 
their animals. There is good feed about 12 miles from Fort 
Shepherd, and again at the summit of the mountains, which 
form the divide between the valleys of the Columbia and 
Kootenay rivers. The distance from the first feed to the summit 
is 34 miles, and again, from the summit to the Kootenay some 
36 miles must be passed over without finding sufficient grass 
for more than one pack-train. 

We struck the Kootenay Eiver about 4 miles from the upper 
end of the great Kootenay or Flatbow Lake. This portion of 
the valley is quite level and composed of rich alluvial soil, and 
much resembles that of Pitt Eiver at this season, abounding as 
it does in swamp grass and rank vegetation ; it is evidently one 
continuous lake during the earlier period of the year. The 
river itself is broad, steep, and sluggish. 

The Kootenay Indians are by far the finest specimens of the 
race that I have yet seen, and are among the — I fear — few tribes 
remaining that have not been demoralised by Contamination 
with the white man. I believe, with few exceptions, they have 
become converts to Christianity, and it was a pleasing sight to 
see the chief of the tribe, who accompanied me on my road for 
some days, kneel down before each repast and thank Grod for his 
daily bread. They appeared much pleased with a few presents 
which I made them of needles, fish-hooks and tobacco, and during 
the time that we were within the district of the eastern tribe 
we were generally followed by a large cavalcade. A large num- 
ber were encamped in the valley at their fishing grounds ; they 
were very friendly, aud rendered us every assistance in helping 
to swim our horses and cross our baggage over the Kootenay 



^05 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

River ; this we accomplished with safety, nearly parallel with the 
Boundary Line, having travelled some 20 miles up the valley 
after leaving the newly-made trail. 

On leaving the river we were obliged to diverge some 10 
miles into American territory, when we joined the Lewiston and 
Walla Walla trail, which follows up the Mooyie River to the 
lakes, from which the river takes its rise, through a thickly 
timbered and somewhat mountainous country, where we found 
it very difficult to find food for our horses. 

From these lakes to the mines, a distance of about 40 miles, 
the country again opens out, and nothing can exceed the 
grandeur of the scenery as we now approached the Rocky 
Mountains. 

We arrived at the mines on the 26th day from Hope, and I 
cannot estimate the distance travelled over in this period at less 
than 190 miles, though in this it should be remembered that I 
include the detour of 30 miles which I made by way of 
Colville. 

I found about 700 men resident at the mines, and I was in- 
formed that at least 300 were out prospecting in the neighbour- 
hood; but although numerous reports of new and extensive 
discoveries reached the creek daily during my stay, I could 
obtain no information sufficiently authentic to place any credence 
in them. 

The mining is therefore at present entirely confined to one 
creek, called by the miners ' Wild Horse Creek,' which takes its 
rise within the confines of the Rocky Mountains, and flows into 
the Kootenay River, northward of the 50th parallel of latitude. 
The creek is at present worked for about 4 miles, commencing 
some 2 miles from its junction with the Kootenay. I visited 
most of the claims, and found them all paying well, and, with few 
exceptions, the entire community appeared well satisfied with 
the laws to which they were subject. 

At the time of my arrival, 50 sluice companies were at work, 
employing from 5 to 25 men, and taking out from $300 to #1,000 
per diem. 

One hundred rockers were averaging from 2 oz. to 6 oz. per 
diem. 



MR. birch's report. 259 

Eight companies have commenced running tunnels into the 
side of the hill, but the Grold Hill Company was the only one 
sufficiently advanced to become remunerative ; this company 
was taking out nearly an ounce to the hand per diem. 

Four shafts were being sunk in the bed of the creek, but at 
my departure no satisfactory results had been obtained, although 
all parties interested seemed confident of success. 

Seventy men were employed in constructing a large upper 
ditch, some 5 miles in length, which it was expected would be 
completed early in the present month, when more than 100 
hill claims, which were lying over for want of water, would com- 
mence work. The few hill claims at present working are found 
to be richer than the bed of the creek, the opening of the ditch 
is therefore looked forward to with much interest. 

Labourers were receiving $7 a day, and the price of provisions 
enabled them to live well for $1.50 per diem. 

A town of no inconsiderable size has already sprung up upon 
the creek. Four restaurants are established ; the rate of charges 
for regular boarders average $14 to $18 per week. Numerous 
substantial stores have been erected. A large brewery had also 
been established and had commenced working. 

Great uncertainty prevails as to the period at which the winter 
fairly sets in, but it was expected that the severe frosts would 
not commence before November, and it was therefore the inten- 
tion of Mr. Haynes to allow all claims to lie over from the 1st 
November to 1st of May. 

From the number of log huts in the course of construction, 
it is estimated that from 300 to 400 persons will winter at the 
mines. 

The gold taken from these mines is considered by the traders 
to equal the best Californian gold. The price at which it passes 
current on the creek is $18 the ounce, and packers going down 
are glad to purchase at that price. 

I was very anxious to obtain some approximate return of the 
amount of gold taken from the creek during the season, but I 
found it impossible to do so. Careful accounts are kept by the 
miners of the receipts and disbursements for the week, but as 
each Sunday comes round the division of profits is made, or 

s 2 



260 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

more properly- speaking, there is a general square up, after 
which all accounts to that date are destroyed. 

The camp is well supplied with all the necessaries of life. I 
enclose a list of prices of the chief articles. 

It is confidently expected by the traders that there will be a 
rush of from 10,000 to 15,000 miners from the Boise country 
in the spring, and large supplies are still being sent in to the 
mines. On our return we met 10 or 12 heavily laden pack 
trains daily. The entire supplies are at present packed up from 
Lewiston, Walla Walla, Wallula, and Umatilla Landing, in 
Washington Territory and the State of Oregon. The cattle came 
direct from Salt Lake City, and are some of the finest I have 
ever seen. 

The distances from these places are as follows : — 

Wild Horse Creek to Lewiston . 342 miles. 

Do. do. to Walla Walla . 408 do. 

Do. do. to Wallula . . 438 do. 

Do. do. to Umatilla Landing 453 do. 

The present charges for packing from these places ranges from 
20c to 24c per lb. 

A trail through British territory, either by way of the Shuswap 
or Grande Prairie, cannot I think exceed 400 miles. The mer- 
chants of this colony need therefore have little fear of being 
able to compete with the American merchants, when it is 
remembered to what an enormously high tariff American goods 
are now subject. 

Mr. Haynes had collected a large amount of revenue, con- 
sidering the short time that he had been resident in the district. 
I found his treasury to consist of an old portmanteau, which he 
zealously guarded by night and day, in the log hut in which he 
is at present living. 

At the urgent request of Mr. Haynes, I relieved him of a portion 
of his responsibility, by taking over some 75lbs. weight of gold. 
This I brought down with me, and have safely deposited in the 
hands of the Treasurer. It is an interesting incident for Mr. 
Evans, Mr. Bush by, and myself to remember that we were the first 



MR. birch's report. 261 

gold escort direct from the Rocky Mountains to the seaboard of 
the colony. 

We left the mines on October 1, and I much regretted that 
time would not allow of my returning by some other route than 
the one I had already travelled over, as I feel very confident 
that for many reasons it is not the one to be adopted by the 
Government. 

Since my return to New Westminster I learn that a surveying 
party has already started, by way of Kamloops and the Shuswap 
Lake. They will doubtless follow the Indian trail, and strike 
the Columbia near the Arrow Lakes ; but before any decision is 
arrived at in the matter, I am very anxious that the portion of 
the country lying between the Grande Prairie and the junctions 
of the Kootenay and Columbia Eivers should be explored. 

I am told by Mr. A. McDonald, who is resident at the Hudson 
Bay Company's Fort at Colville, and who is well known as an 
experienced hunter, that, striking nearly due north from the 
Grand Prairie, there is a low divide, the commencement of 
which we could plainly distinguish, by which you are enabled 
to reach the Columbia with great ease, nearly opposite to the 
Kootenay River. 

The entire country from Princeton to the Grande Prairie, a 
distance of some 160 miles, is almost free from timber ; abounds 
in food for cattle ; the trail throughout is excellent, and with 
the exception of a small distance on the Similkameen, no 
expenditure would be required in improving it, and indeed 
little would be required in making the same into a waggon 
road. 

The exploration of the short distance I have referred to might 
easily be accomplished during the winter months, and if found 
feasible might be opened out in a very short time. I would 
therefore suggest for your consideration, that Mr. Haynes be at 
once empowered to expend a small sum on this work. 

I have little of sufficient interest to report relative to our 
return journey, which would excuse me for continuing this 
already lengthy report ; we arrived at Hope in 24 days from 
Wild Horse Creek, having experienced most lovely weather ; we 
had only to record two wet days throughout the whole period of 



2(52 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

our absence, and nothing can exceed the charms of this climate 
for camp life. 

We found game abundant over the whole trail, and were 
enabled without difficulty or delay to keep the camp well sup- 
plied, though I must own that on occasions we had descended so 
low in the game list as to eat porcupine with a relish. 

I cannot conclude this letter without expressing my sense of 
the admirable manner in which Mr. Haynes has carried out his 
duties under most difficult circumstances ; arriving as he did 
with only one constable to assist him, among a body of 1,500 
miners from the adjoining territories, many of whom were 
known to be utterly regardless of law and order ; he found them 
banded together, making their own laws and meting out their 
owm ideas of justice; each man, as many have owned to me, 
carrying his life in his hands. In fact, so insecure had life and 
property become in the eyes of many of the miners that Mr. 
Dore, one of the original discoverers of the creek, and a few 
others, had formed themselves into a committee, and drawn up 
a code of laws, which they intended enforcing on the community 
had not a Government officer arrived at the moment. Copies of 
these laws were handed to me by Mr. Dore, and I enclose them 
as interesting documents. I would add that the gentlemen 
forming this committee have cheerfully rendered Mr. Haynes 
every assistance in their power in maintaining law and order. 

I arrived, within six weeks of Mr. Haynes' residence in the 
district, to find the mining laws of the colony in full force, all 
Customs duties paid, no pistols to be seen, and everything as 
quiet and orderly as it could possibly be in the most civilized 
district of the colony, much to the surprise and admiration of 
many who remember the early days of the neighbouring State 
of California. 

I have the honour to be, sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

Arthur N. Birch. 

His Excellency Frederick Seymour. 

Diggings north-west of the Fraser. — Sufficient prospec- 
ting has been attempted to prove the existence of the 



MINING LAWS. 263 

precious metal in that section of the country. Bridge 
River, Lilloet, Last Chance, Bella Coola, Skeena, and Nass, 
have furnished indications of being eminently auriferous. 
Of the Stickeen Eiver, which has its source in the same 
mountains with Peace River, it is confidently affirmed, 
by many who have visited that locality, that good wages 
can now be earned on some of its bars, and that in 
future years it is certain to become a centre of mining 
industry. When the matrix, whence issue the granular 
particles found on the banks of the Stickeen, is reached, 
the disclosure of a second Cariboo will reward the toil 
and patience of explorers. 

Little effort has been made as yet to discover minerals and 
the baser metals in British Columbia. I have seen a large 
piece of pure copper from Stickeen. Indications have also 
been found of plumbago, lead, iron, platinum, and tin, and 
the country is believed to abound in coal and limestone. 

The mining laws of the colony are given in extenso in 
the Appendix. Only the points most interesting to intend- 
ing emigrants are here submitted. 

The governor is empowered to appoint gold commis- 
sioners who, within certain districts, may issue ' free miners' 
certificates,' authorising the holder to mine upon crown 
lands, and may register claims (or allotments of auriferous 
land to individual miners). The sum of 11. is charged for 
a certificate, which must be countersigned by the miner, 
and is not transferable. 8s. 4d. has also to be paid for the 
registration of the claim. Certificate and registration are 
valid for one year. 

The gold commissioner is possessed of the authority of 
a justice of the peace, with power to try all the disputes 
of miners. He is appointed judge of law and fact, subject 
to appeal to the Supreme Court of the colony, when in 
civil cases the value of the matter in litigation exceeds 



264 THE MINES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

20/., or when in criminal jurisdiction the fine exceeds 
that sum, or the imprisonment exceeds 30 days. 

The governor may lease auriferous lands on conditions 
specified in the several proclamations affecting mining 
interests. 

Mining boards are permitted to be established in any 
districts where deemed necessary by a given number of 
miners, to make by-laws respecting the size of claims, 
sluices, and things connected with mining generally. 

The size of registered claims, which are usually in dry, 
bar, bench, or ravine diggings, is 100 feet square ; in quartz 
claims 150 feet along the vein. 

Discoverers receive special advantage in the allotment 
of claims, according to their number. 

Provision is made for letting exclusive water privilege, 
for which a rent is paid to the Government. For a clear and 
useful digest of mining laws, with all requisite explanations, 
the work of Mr. Park, barrister, published in Victoria, 
Vancouver Island, should be consulted. 

Note. — The following extract is from an interesting letter 
addressed to me by a representative of one of the largest 
mining concerns in British Columbia. The date of the 
communication is 6th of December 1864, and its value 
consists in the exact and candid account it gives of the 
condition of the gold mining interest at Cariboo during last 
season : — 

I concentrated all the men on our main claim on Creek 

in order, if possible, with the available means at command, to 
go down with oar shaft this season. I had to rebuild our 
wheel which was smashed at the beginning of last winter by the 
severe frost, sink a new shaft much larger than the former one, 
and superior in every point of view to any in the colony. We 
had every confidence as to success ; but the wooden pumps were 
our difficulty. I am now fully convinced, after the experience I 



NOTE ON CARIBOO. 265 

have had, that no company of men, however skilful, will ever 
reach the bottom of our deep diggings here without the aid of 
powerful iron pumps and fixings, if not steam power, which 
eventually must be got, as we have not surface water enough, 
where it is wanted, to work them efficiently. In the meadows, 
so called, on Williams' Creek, where so much was expected, and 
where operations have been going on on a very extended scale for 
the distance of about 3 miles, in every instance the mines have 
failed for want of adequate machinery and pumps. This will appear 
the more provoking when I say that we do not require ' greater 
power in any of the claims than is found in ordinary mines in 
the old country. The waggon road is now complete to Cot- 
tonwood ; 15 or 16 miles more will bring it to the bottom of 
Williams' Creek. Then machinery can be taken up the whole 
distance. We have lost the whole season in fighting with our 
difficulties, having inadequate means to cope with them. In 
reality, they are not difficulties, had we the necessary appliances 
at hand to overcome them. Still, ivith all the disappointments, 
and they have been many this year, more gold was sent doivn 
from Cariboo than in any previous year. 



266 



CHAPTER X. 

PROCESS OF MINING. 

Essentials for carrying on Mining Operations successfully — The Art ot 
' Prospecting ' — The Use of the Rocker — Sluicing — Hydraulic Mining — 
Water Companies — The ' Flutter- wheel ' — Turning a River out of its 
Bed — ' Ground Sluicing '—Tunnelling— Quartz Mining — The Rastra — 
Crushing Quartz by Steam Power — i Quartz, the Mother of Gold.' 

To the intending emigrant unversed in the art of 
extracting gold, a general description of the methods 
employed for this purpose may not be uninteresting. It 
is hardly necessary to remark that this metal derives its 
value from its comparative rareness and the difficulties 
encountered in procuring it. Any one, therefore, 
imagining that — the scene of operations reached — he can 
pick up the object of his search without obstruction or 
delay, had better, while under that delusion, make up 
his mind to remain at home. Should he refuse warning 
and persist in indulging Utopian expectations, his folly 
will be visited with vexatious consequences. 

Three great essentials in effectually carrying on 
mining operations are water, wood, and quicksilver. In 
some parts of California the want of the first of these 
materials offers a serious hindrance to the labour of the 
miner, which can only be compensated by elaborate and 
costly appliances. It sometimes happens in that State 
that even where steam quartz mills are at work, any small 
volume of water required to supply them must be conveyed 
in flumes a distance of forty miles, and in some instances 
more than double that distance. In New Zealand wood 



PROSPECTING.' 



267 



is felt to be the great desideratum. The ore of quicksilver, 
which is usually found to exist in gold-producing 
countries, lias been discovered in British Columbia, though 
the utilisation of it has hitherto been neglected ; conse- 
quently the colony is dependent for supplies of quicksilver 
on California. Water and wood, however, British 
Columbia contains in abundance, and the mountainous 




PROSPECTORS AT WORK. 



character of the country enables the miner to divert to his 
purpose torrents, the economic power of which would 
otherwise be much less valuable in his operations. 

The metallic sand in which gold is found is primarily 
sought, and the peculiar quality of earth that contains the 
amalgam is technically called the ' colour.' While engaged 
in the pursuit of this indication of the presence of gold, 
the miner is 'prospecting.' The requisites for this task 
are a 'pan 1 and some quicksilver. When the miner 



268 PROCESS OF MINING. 

conies to a spot on the bank of a river which he supposes 
to be auriferous, he proceeds to test the value of the ' dirt ' 
in the following manner. Having filled the pan with 
earth, he gently dips it in the stream, and by the assistance 
of a rotatory motion which he gives to its contents, 
loosened by the introduction of water, the black sand with 
pebbles is precipitated to the bottom. The lighter earth 
is allowed to pass over the edge of the pan or basin. 
After all has been removed except the sand and any specks 
of gold that may be hi combination with it, the pan is placed 
by a fire or in the sun to dry. The lighter particles of 
sand are blown away, and if the gold be very fine it is 
amalgamated with quicksilver. By thus ascertaining the 
value of the remaining particles of gold dust, skilful 
'prospectors' conclude whether the ground would pay to 
work. In this rough method of searching for gold the 
superior specific gravity of that metal over every other, 
except platinum, is the basis of operations — auriferous 
particles, on this principle, settling at the bottom. 

The readiest and most primitive contrivance for wash- 
ing gold is the ' rocker,' which is still used by China- 
men, and a few white men, on the banks of the Fraser. 
The rocker is constructed like a child's cradle, with 
rockers underneath. This box is 3^ to 4 feet long, about 
2 feet wide and 1-^ feet deep. The upper part and one 
end are open, and the sides gradually slope toward the 
bottom. At the head is a section closely jointed with a 
sheet-iron bottom, perforated so as to admit of small 
stones passing through. Along the bottom of the rocker 
riffles * or cleets are arranged to arrest the gold. This 
apparatus placed on the margin of the river, the upper iron 
box is fed by one miner with earth, and by another is 

* These are strips of wood or metal arranged after the manner of <i 
Venetian blind. 



ROCKING. 



269 



rocked and supplied with water. The gold and pebbles 
passing down to the bottom, the water carries away 
the latter, and the riffles detain the former. In case the 
gold is very fine, part of a blanket is often laid along the 
under box, covered with quicksilver to attract the gold 
dust. By this simple agency from 17. to 10/. per day and 
upwards to the hand has been realised. In an ordinary sluice 
40 or 50 lbs. of quicksilver is employed daily, and in a 




WORKING WITH THE ROCKER, 



rocker from 8 to 10 lbs. But after the gold has been 
retorted from it, the same quicksilver may be applied 
several times over. 

The next method to be described, and the one 
most prevailing on the Pacific, is Sluicing. This 
is a process of mining that can be conducted on any 
scale and in connection with the labour of an indefinite 
number of men, It is almost invariably found in con- 
junction with a system of 'flumes' or wooden aqueducts 



270 PROCESS OF MINING. 

of various extent, running parallel with the claims 
on a creek or river. It is necessary, in separating the 
earth from the gold which is mixed with it, that each 
sluice should be supplied with a fall of water, and if the 
stream contiguous to the mine run on too low a level to 
supply this want, miners, as has been already stated, 
are often compelled to go considerable distances in quest 
of water sufficiently elevated to afford the object desired. 
Flumes are thus brought into requisition, and by openings 
made in that side of them opposite the mine, water is 
admitted to the sluice, which is placed at such an 
angle that the water may have force enough to carry off 
the earth, while leaving the gold behind. 

Sluice-boxes are of various sizes, and are fitted closely 
together so as to form a strongly built and extended 
trough. The fall of the water in the sluice-box is adjusted 
to allow sufficient time for the riffles and quicksilver to 
arrest the gold as it passes, and the supply from the flume 
is regulated by a slide in the opening on the side of it. 
The bottom of each sluice is usually intersected with 
strips of wood, and in the interstices of this grating 
quicksilver is spread to intercept the fine gold in its 
descent, nuggets and grains of coarse gold being caught by 
the grating itself. The sluice is supported on trussels so 
as to raise or lower it to the level convenient for 
shoveling in the earth. Several miners introduce ' dirt ' 
on either side, and others assist in loosening the heap and 
removing large stones, so that the gold may be easily 
precipitated. 

Hydraulic mining is entitled to some consideration. 
Bars that pay but a small return to the hand on the 
ordinary principle of working, will yield handsomely 
when operated upon by the hydraulic method. Insepa- 
rably connected with this is a system of flumes or sluice- 



HYDRAULIC MINING. 



271 



boxes, generally 14 inches in length by about 3 feet in 
width. These are fastened together at the ends, and form 
a long and strongly built trough, extended as far as may 
be necessary — sometimes thousands of feet. It is lined 
with thick wooden blocks, partly to resist the friction 
occasioned by the passage of the debris, and also to allow 
room for quicksilver in the interstices for attracting and 




HYDRAULIC MINING. 



detaining the gold. Sometimes the quicksilver is placed 
in riffles, fixed transversely upon each other. This 
massive and continuous line of boxes is constructed near 
the bank about to be attacked. It is obvious that to 
bring down millions of tons of earth with the ordinary 
appliances of manual labour would be a tedious and 
profitless task. Another flume is therefore prepared for 
the purpose of bringing water from a level so much higher 



272 PROCESS OF MINING. 

than the side of the hill to be reduced as to secure for the 
stream thus diverted a force powerful enough to do execu- 
tion upon the masses of earth that are to be washed down. 
Attached to this latter flume is a common hose, consisting 
of a double ply of canvas or gutta percha. Through the 
iron mouth of the hose, the volume of water, conducted 
in the manner described from a convenient elevation, is 
directed against the bank, as when the jet of the fireman 
plays upon a burning house. The skilful operator aims 
at eating into the lower strata of the hill a considerable 
way till the upper portion can no longer be supported. A 
signal is given as the moment of the threatened crash 
approaches that miners in dangerous proximity may 
betake themselves to a safe distance. After the huge 
masses of earth have fallen, the men return and shovel it 
into the sluice-boxes through which .a volume of water 
passes that removes the dirt and precipitates the gold into 
the-riffles. The expense attending this ingenious arrange- 
ment is often enormous in consequence of the long way 
water may have to be conveyed. Unproductive ground, 
too, may be fixed upon for bed-rock fluming. But when 
mining parties are so fortunate as to select the proper spot, 
the operation can hardly fail to be remunerative. One or 
two of these ' water-batteries ' brought to bear upon a 
hill side can effect more than could be done by 100 men 
with picks and shovels. Many localities in California are 
completely metamorphosed by this hydraulic process. 

An interest intimately associated with the chief methods 
of mining that have been delineated, and one essential to 
their success, is that of the waterworks companies. It has 
been shown that alluvial diggings often exist adjacent to 
streams whose level is too low to be of the least service in 
supplying water for mining purposes. To obtain an 
artificial supply of water in that exigency, these enter- 



WATER COMPANIES. 273 

prising corporations undertake difficult and extensive 
works by which mountain streams are diverted from their 
channels through canals and ditches, following sinuosities 
of the hills, and where, if necessary, a grade is obtained 
to assist the fall of water by means of flumes. When 
these have to be formed across valleys at certain eleva- 
tions, they are propped by stout tressel-work. Water is 
furnished to the mining companies along the course of 
the trunk aqueduct by lateral branches, which tap this 
main artery, and water thus admitted into the branch 
flumes for the accommodation of separate mines is sold by 
the inch. This measurement is adjusted by a slide in the 
aperture communicating with the main aqueduct, of a 
fixed breadth — the height being bargained for. These 
c ditch ' projects often prove a source of great emolument 
to the shareholders. 

In sinking a deep shaft, the earth that is removed is 
hoisted up in buckets, and to abridge and expedite the 
labour connected with this process, an overshot-wheel 
is erected near the top of the shaft, which is driven by 
the water passing through the branch flume. The dirt is 
emptied into a box, the interior of which resembles that of 
a rocker, and includes the apparatus of riffles, quicksilver, 
&c. This receptacle is known, in miners' phrase, as the 
6 dump-box,' for here the earth is loosened by dumping. 
A subsidiary flume expressly leads water into this box> 
and, as in rocking, by this action of the passing current 
the light earthy matter is carried off, the gold precipitated, 
and the stones left behind, which are easily separated. 

To supersede the necessity, where it is possible to do 
so, of bringing water from a distance to work a rich mine, 
which is considerably elevated above the level of the 
river on whose banks it is found, a variety of ingenious 
inventions have been resorted to. The most common of 



274 PROCESS OF MINING. 

these is the ' flutter- wheel,' which, in California, is erected 
in every conceivable manner, and meets the eye of the 
traveller in all directions. Its diameter is sometimes 30 
feet, and it is furnished with buckets, so prepared as to 
catch the water of the river, a considerable quantity of 
which is retained in their upward revolution. At the 
point where it flows from the buckets, there is a trough 
standing to receive it, and through this it passes into the 
sluice-box where mining operations are carried on. 

Among the fearless plans sometimes adopted for exa- 
mining the holes and corners of an auriferous region, one of 
the most noteworthy is that by which a river is turned 
out of its bed. In bed-rock fluming the stream is col- 
lected into the narrow wooden duct that is placed in the 
middle of its natural channel. When a river is said to be 
'jammed,' a high barrier is constructed from one side 
across. A small space is left between the termination of 
this dyke and the opposite side of the channel, for the 
water to escape. To preserve that part of the channel, 
from which the water has been diverted, dry, another 
barrier is formed at right-angles with the first, running 
parallel with that side of the river-bed through which the 
stream flows. The layer of clay covering the bed-rock 
and the crevices, or ' pockets,' of the rock itself are 
minutely ransacked, and often with very profitable results. 
The freshets of spring generally prove disastrous to these 
bold undertakings, but with the destruction of the dykes, 
come new deposits of gold, occasioned by this annual 
enlargement of the stream ; so that the trouble of re- 
building for several seasons in succession is sometimes 
found to be amply repaid. 

' Ground sluicing ' is now a very general, as it is a very 
convenient, method of getting at the ' pay-dirt.' When a 
section of the ancient bed of the stream has been alighted 



GROUND SLUICING. 



!75 



upon, in which the presence of gold is indicated, but over 
which has accumulated a layer of barren earth, the 
only plan formerly in use for working the auriferous 
stratum was ' coyoteing ' — a term derived from the name 
of a wild dog found in California having a special instinct 
for burrowing. But there are circumstances in which the 
same result can be accomplished with a great saving of 




GROUND SLUICING, 



time and labour by ground sluicing, with the chance, also, 
of securing gold, should any exist, in the upper earth. 
When the bed-rock does not lie very deep from the 
surface, instead of sinking a shaft or making an opening 
horizontally, the top dirt is removed by turning a strong 
jet of water upon the bank, which is soon reduced, and 
by the help of picks and* shovels the old channel of the 
river is laid bare. The force of the water carries off the 



T 2 



276 PROCESS OF MINING. 

debris; the gold, by its own gravity, falls close to the 
hand of the miner, and is thns saved with the rich pay- 
dirt, which is intended to be washed by the regular 
methods. 

But the formation of the original river-bed, and the 
depth of the bed-rock covered by the layer of gold-bear- 
ing earth, is often such as to necessitate the difficult and 
costly expedient of tunnelling. The tunnel is sometimes 
made from the bottom of a shaft sunk perpendicularly, 
which is called 'drifting,' but quite as frequently is struck 
into the bank from below its present surface. It is made 
to follow the windings of the old channel, and a drain is 
constructed to keep the works free from the interruption 
of water. In exploring the chambers of a tunnel ' pockets ' 
or nests of gold are often met with of extraordinary rich- 
ness. These crevices, in which the gold was deposited in 
former ages, of course vary in size. Some of them are as 
large as a common bowl, and are filled with a conglo- 
merate of black sand, mica, disintegrated particles of 
talcose slate and pebbles. This concrete gives way under 
a few blows of the pick, and the broken pieces, which are 
naturally heavy, have been compared to chunks of plum- 
cake. On breaking them with the hand the interior is 
observed to contain pellets of gold. 

Quartz-mining, which ultimately becomes the perma- 
nent method of extracting gold, after the placeres or 
alluvial diggings have given out, has scarcely yet been 
attempted in these colonies, in consequence of European 
capitalists (who are always expected to inaugurate large 
mechanical operations in auriferous countries) being sus- 
picious and tardy in reference to these investments. It 
cannot be long, however, before this branch of mining is 
widely established among the hills of Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia, as it is in California and Nevada. 



QUARTZ CRUSHING. 



277 



The most primitive expedient for crushing quartz is the 
rastra, or drag. This consists of two large stones attached 
by a strap to a horizontal bar. A horse or mule is yoked 
to the bar, as when a corn or threshing-mill is driven by 
animal power. The quartz is broken into small pieces, 
and placed in the circular trough, in which the animal 
goes round. These are reduced to powder by the friction 




HELVETIA QUARTZ MILL, GRASS VALLEY. 



of the rastra. Over the paved floor of the trough a stream 
of water constantly flows, by which the crushed quartz is 
made to assume the appearance of a milk-white paste. 
The floor is sprinkled with quicksilver at intervals. When 
the quartz is sufficiently ground, the water is turned off, 
the floor taken up, and the amalgam collected and re- 
torted. Quartz is said to be more thoroughly crushed and 



278 PKOCESS OF MINING. 

pulverised by one of these lazy, jogging machines, than by 
the 'stampers' of a regular steam crushing-mill ; and from 
rock which it would be profitless to work under the more 
advanced principle, gold in paying quantities can be ex- 
tracted. 

I was favoured with an opportunity of witnessing the 
operation of quartz-crushing by steam power, on a limited 
scale, in California. The apparatus consists of a series of 
iron stampers, erected in a line, with an iron box placed 
under, and fitted to receive each. Into these boxes the 
quartz is put, after having been broken up into small 
pieces. The stampers are moved by cogs connected with 
a revolving wheel, by which they are alternately lifted 
and let fall. The stamping box is generally supplied with 
water by a hose or pipe. Through a hole made on pur- 
pose, the quartz, converted into a thick milky liquid, is 
forced, carrying with it much of the fine gold. This 
pulpy substance is discharged upon a framework, across 
which riffles or cleets are fixed, containing quicksilver, 
with which the gold amalgamates in its passage. Any 
fine particles escaping the quicksilver are caught below 
upon a hide or blanket stretched tightly across a frame. 
But, notwithstanding the most careful precautions, a 
waste of gold occurs, which can with difficulty be 
avoided. It often happens that the ' tailings,' or refuse 
of the mill, on being put through a second crushing, 
will pay as well as did the quartz when crushed in its 
original state. 

Scientific men are agreed, I believe, that ' quartz is the 
mother of gold.' The precious metal is sometimes visible 
in glittering specks, distributed throughout the rock, but 
quartz may also be worked with advantage in which the 
gold particles are so small as not to be visible to the 
naked eye. A proportion of gold to the value of #20 to 



YIELD OF QUARTZ. 279 

the ton of quartz pays well, where the machinery is 
effective and convenient to the reef. Eock is crushed, 
however, in California that yields hundreds of dollars 
per ton.* 

* See an interesting article that appeared in Harper's New Monthly 
Magazine for April 1860 on this subject. 



280 



CHAPTER XL 

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Climate — Farming Capabilities — Agricultural Districts — Mr. Davidson's 
Experience of Farming North of the Pavilion — Yield of other Farms — 
Fruit — Stock-raising — Remunerative Character of Dairy Produce — Sheep 
— Hogs — Terms on which Land may be Acquired. 

As climate is an important consideration in agricultural 
pursuits, it is worthy of notice that the uneven surface of 
British Columbia presents every shade and variety of 
temperature. It may be safely asserted, however, that 
farming can be carried on in this colony at any altitude 
under 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. Certain belts 
of the country are found to be warm and dry, while others 
are moist and of more equable temperature. For a hun- 
dred and fifty miles inland from the mouth of the Fraser 
we have a district characterised by a humid climate, and 
in which the thermometer of Fahrenheit rarely falls below 
10, or rises above 90 degrees. Kain, sometimes continuing 
for days together, and frequently assuming the form of 
' Scotch mist,' prevails in that section of the country during 
spring, summer, and autumn. In winter, snow falls from 
one to two feet, the depth lessening as we approach the 
sea. It remains on the ground for a week or two, and, 
after an absence of the same duration, light snow-storms 
succeed. Thus, with alternations of snow, rain, and tem- 
porary suspensions of both, the winter passes, usually 
breaking up in the early part of March. Periods of cloudy 



CLIMATE OF THE INTERIOR. 281 

weather during summer temper the heat of the season, 
which is much more intense in the interior. But even 
when the atmosphere is clear, heavy dews fall at night. 

The northern limit of the damp portion of the country 
crosses the Lilloet route in the vicinity of Anderson's Lake 
and the Fraser, between the Upper Canon and the Forks. 
Beyond extends a region of equal breadth but greater 
heat and aridity. Though situated farther north and on 
a loftier elevation, the climate in this neighbourhood is 
not perceptibly colder in winter, while the snow is less 
deep than in the more southern part of the country just 
described, adjacent to the Lower Fraser. In Similkameen, 
the valley of the Thompson, and Horsefly, the winter is 
rarely so severe as to be injurious to stock ; while in 
Cariboo the snow, which perpetually covers the earth, is 
accompanied with extreme cold. 

Mr. Pemberton writes : — 4 It may be sufficient here to 
say that ... in parts of valleys of the Fraser, Lilloet, 
Columbia, and Thompson Kivers, a climate quite as mild 
as that of Devonshire is indicated by birds of bright 
plumage, humming birds, cactuses growing in the open 
air, &c. ; while lands farther north reproduce not unfre- 
quently the climates of Hudson's Bay and Labrador.' The 
views of Mr. A. C. Anderson on the same subject are 
entitled to respect from his long residence in the country: — 

Snow begins to fall in the mountains early in October. In 
July there is still snow for a short distance on the summit of 
the Fort Hope trail, but not to impede the passage of horses. 
From the middle of October, however, to the middle of June, 
this track is not to be depended upon for transport with pack 
animals. The summer climate above the Forks is dry, and the 
heat is great. During winter the thermometer indicates occa- 
sionally from 20° to 30° of cold below zero of Fahrenheit ; but 
such severe cold seldom lasts on the upper parts of Fraser Kiver 
for more than three days ; the thermometer will then continue 



282 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

to fluctuate between zero and the freezing-point until possibly 
another interval of cold arrives. But the winters are extremely 
capricious throughout these regions, and no two resemble each 
other very closely. In general, the snow does not fall deep 
enough along the banks of the main streams to preclude winter 
travelling with pack animals. . . . There are many spots 
between the Similkameen Valley and OKanagan that are specially 
favourable for winter ranches. In some the snow never lies, 
however deep it may be around. 

The climate to the west of the Cascade range is mild, 
but somewhat humid. The summer is beautiful, with a 
small proportion of rainy days ; the autumn is clear and 
fine ; the winter liable to frost and rain, by turns ; and 
the spring peculiarly wet. 

'The winter of 1859,' says Mr. Brown, of Lilloet, 'was 
very mild. The frost came November 10, then went 
away ; snow in December 1860 ; January, February, 
March were mild and damp ; April and May fine, but a 
good deal of rain fell ; June, July, August, and September 
were very fine ; October rainy ; November and December 
fine winter weather. 

Id 1861 the maximum temperature at New Westminster 
was 84°, and the minimum 20° ; January was wet and 
frosty; February very wet ; rain fell on 18 days out of 
29 ; March and April also wet ; May fine, with a good 
deal of rain ; June, July, August, September very fine, 
with a little rain ; October fine ; snow appeared on the 
mountains in November, and until shortly before Christ- 
mas the weather was good. A little before Christmas 
there was hard frost, increasing in intensity till January 
9, 1862, when the river froze over opposite New West- 
minster, remaining so till the early part of March. The 
minimum temperature was 16^° below zero. Such a 
winter had not been known in the country for thirteen 
years. 



CLIMATE. 283 

The difference in the physical aspects of the countries 
on either side the Cascades extends, as already remarked, 
to the climate. As a sample, the last four winters at 
Lilloet may be described : — 

In 1859 winter began on November 7, and continued till the 
middle of March. 

In 1860 winter commenced on December 7, and lasted till 
the end of February. There were three or four days of severe 
cold, with wind from the N., and the thermometer fell to zero. 
There was a long spell of bright clear frosty weather, with an 
occasional thaw; little snow fell. 

In 1861 the severest winter known for 20 years began on 
November 27, and may be said to have lasted till the end of 
March, although the river did not break up till April 15. The 
thermometer attained a minimum of 25° below zero. There 
were 10 weeks of continued frost, when the thermometer fre- 
quently got below zero in the evenings and mornings. But the 
weather was always clear and sunny. The snow was at one 
time 12 inches deep, but at other places in this section of coun- 
try there were last winter 2 feet of snow — a depth, however, very 
unusual. Notwithstanding this, most of the stock left to winter 
out, and find their own food as best they might, survived. 

The winter of 1862-3 was extremely mild, with the exception 
of two or three days in November, and ten da}^s of severe cold 
in February. 

January and February are usually cold months, March and 
April variable — the plains begin to be clothed with verdure. 
May to October, and sometimes November, fine, clear, warm 
weather ; in the last two months the evenings are frosty. De- 
cember is cold and wintry. In summer, on the other hand, the 
mercury sometimes shows 100° in the shade. 

In this section of country little rain falls. More rain fell in 
1862 than in 1861 ; more again in 1861 than in 1860. 

In the OKanagan district there is a great supply of rain ; at 
William's Lake a sufficient quantity. At the latter place the 
winters are more severe than at Lilloet, the thermometer some- 
times ranging as low as 40° below zero ; yet the weather is clear, 



284 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

and without wind ; and, in the experience of those accustomed 
to cold climates, any cold is bearable, and even enjoyable, so 
long as the sun comes out during the day and the winds are still. 

At Alexandria and Quesnelle mouth snow appears in the end 
of November, and lies to a depth of 18 inches for three or four 
months; January is the coldest, August the hottest, June the 
rainiest ; August, September, and October the driest months in 
the year. 

The climate of Cariboo is severe ; there the winters are long, 
lasting from November till the end of April ; yet the weather is 
usually clear and calm. Snow falls principally in January or 
February, sometimes to a depth of from 7 to 10 feet, so that 
snow-shoes are used for winter travelling. 

But with the exception of Cariboo, the climate of British 
Columbia is universally regarded as one of the finest in the 
world. Nor can the fact of its extreme healthiness be too much 
insisted on. Cases of sickness are rare, and many who suffered 
at home from feeble health have here inhaled new life from the 
bracing mountain breeze. 

In reference to the soils of the colony, they are of three 
kinds. The first and the most rare of these consists of 
decayed vegetable matter and alluvial deposits of a black 
colour, but rich and loamy. Valleys and banks of rivers 
contain deposits of this character. 

The next quality is formed by the disintegration and 
decomposition of rocks, and is light and sandy, with a 
considerable proportion of lime, which accounts for its 
remarkable fertility. It varies in depth from one to three 
feet, and rests on a subsoil of gravel or clay. 

It must be acknowledged that the amount of superior 
farming land in British Columbia is not great when com- 
pared with the gross area of the colony. But it should 
be remembered that the trunk roads to Cariboo conduct, 
for the most part, througft the most unprepossessing sections 
of the country. It is confidently expected, however, that 



FARMING DISTRICTS. 285 

the agricultural resources will improve upon a more inti- 
mate acquaintance with the regions between the Eraser 
and the Kocky Mountains on the one hand, and the coast 
on the other. 

But on the supposition of land fit for cultivation being 
of even more limited extent than we know it is, this con- 
stitutes no argument against encouraging the immigration 
of settlers. 

My views on this point are expressed at length in the 
chapter on farming in Vancouver Island, and reference to 
the opinions there stated will enable me to dispense with the 
repetition of them in this place. It is no libel on the farm- 
ing capabilities of the country to say that its metalliferous 
capabilities are greater. I do not hesitate to assert that 
British Columbia contains sufficient arable soil to sustain 
a population of many millions ; besides, the large and 
profitable markets furnished to agricultural producers by 
mining and trading settlements are unequalled in any part 
of the world. 

A glance at the principal agricultural districts may not 
be inappropriate to the present sketch. At the mouth of 
the Fraser there is a large tract in the delta of the river, 
which waves in summer with rich and luxuriant hay — a 
source of considerable revenue to those settlers who ex- 
port it to Victoria. This plain is covered at high water, 
but would yield immense compensation to effort bestowed 
in reclaiming it. Farms in the neighbourhood of New 
Westminster have been found to bear excellent crops, 
especially vegetables and fruit. Five miles above West- 
minster, on the banks of Pitt Eiver, are meadows clear 
and of great extent ; the only hindrance to their success- 
ful cultivation being that they are liable to overflow. 

The banks of Pitt River (writes Governor Douglas in I860*) 
* Blue Book, Part IV. p. 8. 



286 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

are exceedingly beautiful ; extensive meadows sweep gracefully 
from the very edge of the river toward the distant line of forest 
and mountain. The rich alluvial soil produces a thick growth 
of grass, interpersed with the Michaelmas daisy, the wild rose, 
and scattered groups of willows. This fine district contains an 
area of 20,000 acres of good arable land, requiring no clearing 
from timber, and ready for the immediate operations of the 
plough. Many parts of it are, however, exposed to overflow 
through the periodical inundations of the Fraser. ... It may 
be turned to good account in growing hay and every kind of 
root crop, and may also be used for pasturing cattle and' for the 
purposes of dair}^. 

A well-known citizen of New Westminster, convinced 
that large tracts of arable land existed beyond the forests 
on the banks of the Fraser, made an exploratory tour 
through the dense woods between that city and Langley ; 
and after having travelled about twelve miles, a magnifi- 
cent prairie burst upon his view, several miles in extent. 
Many such spots, attractive for farming settlement, are 
certain to be discovered when the Government applies 
itself systematically to the work of exploration. 

At Langley the soil is superior, and wheat has been 
grown there for a succession of years without the aid of 
manure. 

Sumass and Chilukweyuk contain land suitable chiefly 
for pastoral purposes. Like the Pitt meadows, however, 
it is subject to overflow for a few days from the summer 
freshets. 

The Lilloet meadows at Port Pemberton contain ' a fine 
tract of prairie land seven or eight miles long and from 
half a mile to a mile wide.' The soil is signally productive 
and adapted for cultivation. Eight miles above Lilloet, 
at the Fountain, a large quantity of land is under crop. 
Higher up, in Pavilion Valley, excellent crops of cereals 
and vegetables are produced. The crop of potatoes 



FARMING DISTRICTS. 287 

reaped by the proprietor of a farm at Pavilion in 1860 
gave 325 bushels to the acre. One of the turnips grown 
in his garden weighed 26 lbs. Oats and barley thrived 
under this gentleman's care. The ears were of great size, 
and the straw about four feet long. His cattle were 
allowed during winter to run at large without shelter, 
obtaining provision as they best could. 

After ascending an elevation of 1,000 feet above Big- 
bar Creek, the traveller reaches a succession of table-lands 
inviting to the plough, and ranges of prairie capable of 
sustaining innumerable herds and flocks. 

At Bridge Creek there are tracts of arable soil exceed- 
ing in extent any to be met with between Langley and 
this place. From Bridge Creek to William's Lake there 
is much good land, though it is said that crops in that 
neighbourhood are liable to be injured by frosts. At Lake 
La Hache and Williams' Lake, barley, wheat, &c, can be 
grown to advantage. It is rare to find in British Colum- 
bia those vast prairies that are so common in the Western 
States of America, without a hill or tree to intercept the 
view, far as the eye can reach. We rather have what 
is understood on the Pacific coast as ' rolling country ; ' 
that is a surface broken up into valleys and mountains — 
ridges of unequal height. 

The land around Beaver Lake is extensive and produc- 
tive, and the district adjacent to Williams' Lake yields rich 
crops of grain and vegetables. At Alexandria, whatever 
portions are under cultivation, give profitable returns ; 
and beyond that town prairies exist containing excellent 
meadow grass and good soil. A similar description would 
apply to the mouth of Quesnelle, and between that place 
and Cottonwood, whence begins the rugged and barren 
district of Cariboo. 

In return southward, Governor Douglas, speaking of the 



288 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OP BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

vicinity of the Thompson, Bonaparte, and Chapeau Eivers, 

says : — 

The district comprehended within these limits is exceedingly 
beautiful and picturesque, being composed of a succession of 
hills and valleys, lakes and rivers, exhibiting to the traveller 
the grateful spectacle of miles of green hills, crowning slopes, 
and level meadows, almost without a bush or tree to obstruct 
the view, and, even to the very hill tops, producing an abundant 
growth of grass. It is of great yalue as a grazing district — a 
circumstance which appears to be thoroughly understood and 
appreciated by the country packers, who are in the habit of 
leaving their mules and horses here when the regular work of 

packing goods to the mines is suspended for the winter 

It has certainly never been my good fortune to visit a country 
more pleasing to the eye, or possessing a more healthy and 
agreeable climate, or a greater extent of fine pasture land; and 
there is no doubt that with a smaller amount of labour and out- 
lay than in almost any other colony, the energetic settler may 
soon surround himself with all the elements of affluence aud 

comfort Mr. M'Lean has recently settled in a beautiful 

spot near the debouche of the Hat Kiver, and is rapidly bring- 
ing his land into cultivation. . . . He entertains no doubt what- 
ever of the capabilities of the soil, which he thinks will, under 
proper management, produce any kind of grain or root crops. 
The only evil he apprehends is the want of rain, and the conse- 
quent droughts of summer, which has induced him to bring a 
supply of water from a neighbouring stream, by which he can 
at pleasure irrigate the whole of his fields. 

But the most encouraging field for farming operations 
yet discovered in the country includes the Similkameen 
and OKanagan districts. On the road thither from Hope 
lies the Sumallow Valley, containing land of superior 
quality. Fifteen miles from Princeton the country be- 
comes open. There the soil is light, and covered with 
bunch grass. Feed for cattle abounds in the neighbour- 
hood, and from indications found of valuable metals, there 



OKANAGAN AND SIMILKAMEEN. 289 

is every probability of its becoming an important mining 
locality. In the valley of the Similkameen the range of 
country is grassy, interspersed with patches of rich land. 
The area around OKanagan Lake is admirably suited for 
farming, with alternate valley and hill. Feed for cattle 
can be had on the west side of the lake, on the Hudson's 
Bay Company's trail. On the eastern side there are 
10,000 acres of clear land, with soil adapted for raising 
stock, or cultivating corn. Passing to Tete d'Epinette, a 
reserve claimed by the Mcola Indians, and thence to the 
Grand Prairie, much superior soil and luxuriant pasture 
are to be met with. That prairie is about sixteen miles 
long, and from one and a half to two and a quarter miles 
in breadth, and would form a capacious settlement. The 
route from that luxuriant tract to Thompson Eiver is varied 
by lakes, hills, and clumps of trees, together with numerous 
large intervals of farming land. There can be no doubt 
that as gold discoveries advance in that direction, excellent 
markets will be created for agricultural producers. 

Of the soil around OKanagan and Similkameen, the 
report of a party of Eoyal Engineers, who visited these 
places in 1859, thus speaks : — 

The grass is generally of a good quality, the prickly pear and 
ground-cactus — the sore enemy to the moccasined traveller — 
being the surest indication of an approach to an inferior quality. 
Timber is for the most part scarce, but coppices appear at the 
sharp bends of the river, tolerably well wooded, and abounding in 
an underbrush of willow and wild cherry, while near the base of 
the mountains, timber exists in quantities easily procurable, and 
more than sufficient for the requirements of the settlers who 
may populate the district. The soil is somewhat sandy and 
light, but free from stones, and generally excellent for grazing 
and farming ; and, though the drought in summer is great, and 
irrigation necessary, many large portions are already well watered 
by streams from the mountains, whose fall is so rapid as greatly 

U 



290 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

to facilitate such further irrigation as might be required. In 
corroboration of my expressed opinion relative to the yielding 
properties of the soil, I may mention that in spots through 
which, perchance, some small rivulet or spring wound its way to 
the river, wild vegetation was most luxuriant ; and grass, some 
blades of which I measured, out of curiosity, as much as nine 
feet high, well rounded and firm, and a quarter of an inch in 
diameter at its lower end.* 

It will have been observed from this hasty account of 
soil and sections adapted for agricultural settlement, that, 
in some parts, spring wheat would require irrigation ; but 
autumn wheat, receiving abundant moisture from the rains 
of winter and spring, would come safely and rapidly to 
maturity, f 

In regard to the yield and prices of crops, I have much 
pleasure in being able to lay before the reader an ex- 
tract from the journal of my dear friend, Dr. Lachlin 
Taylor, of Canada, who possessed, in 1863, opportunities 
of travelling extensively in British Columbia. His quick 
and observant eye did not allow any fact of statistical 



* Blue Book, Part in. p. 85. 

t The Kootanie territory would seern, from the description of the Roman 
Catholic Bishop of Oregon, to consist of forest and prairie, divided in pro- 
portions remarkably favourable for cultivation. The source of the Columbia 
River, which is in British territory, he regards as a point of great prospective 
importance. Birch, pine, cedar, and cypress are the prevailing woods of the 
region. The climate is spoken of as delightful. Extremes of heat and cold 
are infrequent, and the snow usually disappears as it falls. According to 
the opinion of the bishop, who has an intimate acquaintance with that dis- 
trict, it only requires the transforming hand of civilisation to change it into 
a terrestrial paradise. Veins of lead and silver, as well as gold, are known 
to permeate the mountains of Kootanie, and imagination cannot set bounds 
to its future prosperity. It is conveniently situated, moreover, for com- 
munication with Salt Lake city, whence it can be reached in waggons ; it is 
readily accessible not only from the more north-westerly parts of British 
Columbia, but also from the mining localities of Idaho, Boise, and Salmon 
River. 



DAVIDSON'S FARM. 291 

interest to escape notice. In the letter accompanying the 
following extract, he says : — 

Enclosed you have the extract from my Cariboo journal, which 
gives Mr. Davidson's opinion of the farming lands of the Upper 
Fraser, as well as the statistics of his own magnificent farm. 
The whole statement was taken from D.'s own lips, and read over 
to him after it was written ; so that, as far as his judgment could 
be depended on, it is correct in every particular. 

Extract, 

Such is the prevalence of summer frosts in the entire country 
north, or above the Pavilion Mountain, including Mr. Davidson's 
own ranch, that a farm or piece of land must have a southern 
aspect, and be protected from the northern blasts, to cultivate 
any of the cereals to advantage. Six miles above Mr. Davidson's 
is the Eoad Company's farm, considerably higher than the Lake 
Valley ranch (which is the name of Mr. D.'s), but, to all appear- 
ance, as well situated. As it has not, however, the same southern 
declination, Mr. D. is of opinion that grain could not be grown 
there with any prospect of success. He is also of opinion that, 
although there are tracts of land like his own, with a clay bottom 
under a rich sandy loam, the generality of the soil near the river 
is gravelly, which, when the vegetable deposit or top soil is gone 
will be very poor and sterile. 

A selection of country facing Lake La Hache, on the north 
side, might, like Anderson's farm, from its southern aspect, be 
cultivated to advantage ; but such places — as about Cochrane's 
Bridge Creek and the junction — are extremely doubtful. I saw, 
however, myself, when on my way down from Cariboo, some of 
the largest potatoes I have ever seen in any country, which Mr. 
Watson, of the Junction Hotel, grew the present season. 

You will now be gratified to get some statistics from Mr. 
D.'s own ranch, which is probably the finest farm, taking 
extent and cultivation together, in all British Columbia. In 
the first place, a few items about Mr. D.'s first ranch, called 
'the Mission Eanch,' and consisting of 500 acres. Mr. D. 
cultivated altogether about seventy acres. From 40lbs. of spring 

u2 



292 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

wheat lie threshed 20 bushels; and the following season, 15 
bushels sown, produced over 400 bushels. Barley, potatoes, 
cabbages, and onions were all produced in abundance. 

Mr. D. came to his present ranch in June, 1862 (about fifteen 
months before he communicated this information to Dr. Taylor). 
It consists altogether of about 1,860 acres — 160 on the road 
and 1,700 three miles from the house in which he lives. He 
has this year (1863) 175 acres under cultivation, the principal 
crops being barley and oats, with from twelve to fifteen acres of 
potatoes, several acres of corn, beans, parsnips, and carrots ; also 
two acres of cabbages ; one of turnips, and one of onions. The 
barley and oats, on the prime land, will yield about 40 bushels 
to the acre, and, on the higher land, from 20 to 30 ; oats, on the 
best land, from 60 to 80 bushels per acre. 400 tons of hay 
might be cut, and, on eight acres seeded with timothy, the ap- 
pearance is as favourable as anything he has seen in any part of 
the world. Mr. D. is of opinion that it is a good country for 
raising stock ; and the profits derived therefrom would be very 
great. He has good stock himself, and some of them could not 
be excelled on the Pacific coast. 

Mr. D. finished seeding on the 11th June, and expects a return 
of from 200,000 to 300,000lbs. ; and he is of opinion that the yield 
would be much larger had he been able to sow a month earlier. 
Barley is worth at Mr. D's. house $6 per bushel, and cabbage, 
of which he expects to have 1,000 head averaging 81bs. per 
head, 25 cents per lb. He employs at present sixteen servant 
men — the number being reduced in winter to four or five. He 
has eight yoke of working oxen, and from six to eight horses. 
He has a good stock of farming implements, including a reaper 
and mower, and a threshing machine which can thresh 1,000 
bushels a day. 

On other farms potatoes are known to yield from 7 to 
15 tons to the acre. The average weight of many is lib., 
not a few reach 2^ lbs., and some even 31bs. each. On 
one farm, turnips — Swedish and white — produced 25 tons 
to the acre, and one instance is on record of some having 
grown to the enormous bulk of 201bs. Onions yielded 



YIELD— PEICES — STOCK. 293 

from 4 to 61bs. to the acre. Many weighed l^lbs. ; some 
21bs. ; and one, grown at the Fountain, is referred to by 
Mr. Brown as having weighed 2 lbs. loz. Cabbages are 
often to be seen from 12 to 141bs. in weight ; and in a 
certain garden a cabbage was grown weighing 251bs. ! 
It was sold to an Indian for 3s. Mr. Brown saw a beet- 
root in '62, lllbs. in weight, 2 feet in length, and 20 
inches in girth, and at another farm, a carrot weighing 
41bs., with 17J inches in girth. 

As to fruits, melons grow in the open air without 
manure, of prodigious bulk and excellent flavour. The 
presence of the wild cherry and wild pear fully testifies 
that the soil is well adapted for the growth of pears and 
cherries, and it is believed that the grape would flourish 
on the sloping banks of the Fraser. 

The prices of vegetables, &c. in New Westminster are 
higher than in Victoria ; at Lilloet they are nearly twice 
as high ; and at Cariboo four times as high as at New 
Westminster. 

The country is pre-eminent for stock-raising. ' Bunch 
grass,' which is highly nutritious for cattle, is also abun- 
dant. On this fodder the Cayoosh nags or native horses 
so thrive that they surpass, in power of endurance, many 
an English hack fed on grain. One of those hardy 
animals can accomplish without injury a journey of 40 
miles in a day. Mules that* in the upper country, have 
to carry 300 or 4001bs., over long daily stages, have bunch 
grass for their only provender on the journey. A large 
cattle-dealer, accustomed to bring herds from Oregon, has 
publicly declared, as the result of two years' experience in 
the country, that his stock had thriven better here than 
they had done in Oregon and California. ' Two years 
ago a man bought a cow, for which he paid $140 ; that 
summer he made $350 by the sale of her milk and 



294 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

butter ; now she has three calves, each of them worth 
$100.' — Rev. R. C. Lundin Brown. 

In illustration of the remunerative character of dairy 
produce, I am assured by a gentleman who has a personal 
knowledge of the circumstance, that a farmer at the Blue 
Tent drove into Cariboo during the mining season in 1863, 
thirty dairy cows, and netted 15/. per day for four months. 
In eighteen months from his arrival in the colony, he rea- 
lised 4,000/. 

In summer, cattle require little attention and no feed- 
ing. In winter, too, they have generally been left to 
forage for themselves. Yearling calves and foals have suc- 
ceeded in weathering the winter storm. But an unusually 
severe season does occur at intervals, and it would 
be imprudent to make no provision against it. A log- 
shed and six weeks' fodder would save all risk and 
anxiety. 

It is only a few years since sheep were imported into 
the country, but the experiment has been attended with 
complete success. The colony is best adapted for South- 
downs, which may be purchased in Victoria, or still more 
cheaply in Oregon. In the middle section of the country 
they thrive wonderfully. 

By a simple calculation it might be shown that 100 ewes 
and 2 rams would, in the course of five years — supposing the 
produce to be one half lambs, and the wethers to be sold — 
increase to 1,000. This calculation supposes the ewes to lamb 
twice a year, and to have twins one time in three, which is under 
the average. Sheep cost in Victoria 21. and rams 201 (South- 
downs) : the animals would cost little for keep in summer or 
winter, and the wethers being sold for mutton, the proceeds 
would cover the wages of a shepherd. As mutton costs Is. to 
Is. 3d. per lb. (and the sheep average 50 lbs.) it is easy to see 
that, even allowing a wide margin for casualties, a small fortune 
could thus be realised in the course of a few years. The fleeces 



TERMS OF SETTLEMENT. 295 

might either be turned to account in the country itself or ex- 
ported ; the price at San Francisco is 40 cents per lb. 

The number of sheep imported in 1862 was 6,946 ; of cattle, 
5,649 ; of horses and mules, 6,427. 

Hogs are an immensely profitable investment in the 
colony, bacon being a staple commodity at the mines. 
Every other kind of farming produce already specified in 
remarks on farming in the insular colony, fetches a much 
higher price in British Columbia than in Victoria. 

The terms on which land may be acquired in British 
Columbia are given at length in the Appendix. The pro- 
clamation of the governor entitles British subjects, and 
aliens who take the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty, to 
pre-empt unsurveyed lands not reserved by the Govern- 
ment for town sites, or available for mining purposes, or 
occupied as Indian settlements. 160 acres are allowed 
to be taken up by each bona-fide settler, on condition of 
the claim being recorded with the nearest resident magis- 
trate. The recording fee is Ss. When the Government 
survey shall have extended to the land thus selected, pay- 
ment is to be made at the rate of not less than 4s. 2d. 
per acre. When improvements to the value of 10s. per 
acre shall have been made, and the magistrate satisfied of 
the permanent occupation of the settler, he shall be en- 
titled to a certificate of improvement. By this document 
the holder shall be empowered to sell, mortgage, or 
lease the land, subject to the unpaid instalments of pur- 
chase money. 

Priority of pre-emption is secured to the person in 
occupation who shall first record his claim. 

On full payment of the purchase money, the purchaser 
obtains a conveyance, which, however, reserves to the 
Crown precious metals and minerals, with the right to 
enter and work them by its assignees and licensees ; but 



296 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

if this right is exercised, reasonable compensation is to be 
made for the waste and damage done, to be settled, in case 
of dispute, by a jury of six. 

In addition to the 160 acres thus pre-empted, the 
person in possession may hold and purchase any unsur- 
veyed and unoccupied land on paying to the nearest 
magistrate 2s. Id. as part of the purchase money, which 
will be payable when the land is surveyed. 

Any allotment thus sought to be acquired either by 
pre-emption or by purchase, must be of a rectangular 
form, the shortest side being at least two-thirds of the 
length of the longest side. 

If any person, holding under a pre-emptive claim, 
shall cease to occupy the land, the claim may be cancelled. 

Occupants may bring ejectment or trespass against any 
intruder, except a free miner searching for the precious 
metals or conveying water to his mine. 

By an Act, dated Jan. 1, 1863, military and naval 
officers of a certain rank are entitled, without pay, to 
free grants of unoccupied and unsurveyed country land 
in the following proportions : — 

Acres 

Field officer of 25 years' service, in the whole . . . 600 
20 



„ 15, or less; years' service 

Captains of 20 years' service and upwards 

„ 15 „ or less 

Subalterns of 20 „ and upwards 



500 
400 
400 
300 
300 
200 



297 



CHAPTEB XXL 

ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PKODUCTIONS OF VANCOUVER 
ISLAND AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Bears— Racoons — Marten — Mink — Skunk — Otters — Foxes —The Puma — 
Its Ravages — Adventure with a Puma — Wolves — Rats— Stags — Beer — 
Mountain-Sheep— Birds op Prey, &c. — Swans, &c. — Reptiles — Flora 
— Scientific Names of Animals — List of Shells — Additional List of 
Plants. 

Beaks are not uncommon in these regions. I have seen 
specimens of the black bear both in the island and on 
the mainland. Except when wounded or suckling its 
young, and encountered near its hiding-place, this crea- 
ture is comparatively harmless to man. It is easily 
' knocked over ' by the sportsman, and its skin, which 
fetches a high price, is chiefly used as a rug. 

The grizzly is not known in Vancouver Island. Its 
main haunt is the Eocky Mountains, though it has been 
shot considerably west of that range. 

The racoon is distributed in these colonies as through- 
out many other parts of North America. 

Martens are numerous and of varied colour. A good 
fur of this description cannot be bought first-hand under 
6s. or 85. The mink and skunk are also denizens of the 
forests in these colonies. I have known the latter filthy 
animal find its way into a settler's cabin, leaving the pro- 
prietor in the unfortunate position of either allowing 
the beast its own term of possession, in which case it 



298 OTTERS- — FOXES. 

might depart without leaving any unpleasant souvenir of 
its visit behind, or force it out, and thus evoke from the 
skunk that peculiarly objectionable and pungent odour 
which cannot readily be neutralised by fumigation, and 
by which it keeps all invaders at a distance. 

Otters are found on land and in the sea. The species 
pertaining to the latter habitat are held in much greater 
estimation than those indigenous to terra fir ma. The skin 
of an average sized sea-otter, undressed, is valued by the 
Indian hunters at from 121. to 14Z., and, when prepared 
for the Chinese market, will often fetch there 20/. 

Foxes, ' silver-grey,' ' red/ and ' black,' exist ; but the 
latter quality is confined to British Columbia, Ocular 
testimony enables me to pronounce the black fox the most 
handsome animal of its kind to be found. The first of 
these varieties costs the purchaser 21. or SI. when bought 
direct from an Indian trapper, and would realise in Eng- 
land probably 201. or 30/. 

The puma roams in certain parts of the island, as on 
the mainland, and often attains a large and even formidable 
stature. It is known also under the names of panther, Cali- 
fornian lion, and catamount. I happen to possess the skin 
of one shot last year in the island, measuring nine feet from 
the snout to the tip of the tail. But more recently I have 
learned of one being despatched in the neighbourhood of 
the Sooke mines, measuring ten feet from the snout to the 
root of the tail. It has been known, too, in Salt Spring 
Island, to the cost of the settlers. A farmer there, some 
time ago, hearing a huge pig near his dwelling giving 
forth unmistakable signs of having come to grief, went 
to the door and saw this stealthy and powerful foe of the 
farmer hurrying off with the choice morsel suspended by 
the nape of the neck. He arrived just in time to rescue 
the struggling victim. The ravages of the panther among 



ADVENTUEES WITH PUMAS. 299 

sheep and poultry are of the most destructive character. 
Its leg and paw evince a much greater degree of strength 
than distinguishes any of the wild feline species that prowl 
in the jungles of Africa or India. A single blow from 
it must instantly disable any other animal inhabiting the 
same latitude. 

I am acquainted with a sheep-farmer at Sooke whose 
sons, when engaged in watching their flocks, encountered 
and killed some half-dozen of these animals within a couple 
of years. When wounded they are intensely ferocious, 
and will attack alike men and dogs. They ' die hard,' 
unless struck with a rifle-ball in the centre of the breast. 
A member of Mr. Weir's family — the gentleman just 
referred to— informed me, when on a visit to their farm, 
that he once w r ounded a panther several times with his 
rifle, but that it still retained sufficient strength to chase 
and worry a large dog, long after he thought it must have 
bled to death. In the house of my friend several of these 
creatures, stuffed, presented rather a startling array to a 
guest on entering the room, but must prove much less 
agreeable objects when met in the lonely forest. 

Another gentleman who w^ent out on a shooting excur- 
sion, sallied from the trail into the thicket, a few miles 
from Victoria, in search of game. He had the misfortune 
to be soon confronted by an enraged panther, which, 
doubtless, felt her lair to be unceremoniously intruded 
upon, and her whelps endangered. The animal sprang 
upon his back and pulled him down. He partially suc- 
ceeded in keeping her at bay by brandishing his fowling- 
piece, while he lay extended on the ground. Still the 
puma persisted in snapping at him till she tore his clothes 
into shreds. His awkward position incapacitated him 
from firing. At length the animal retreated. These 
instances of danger from the attack of the panther are, 



300 WOLVES — BEAVERS — SQUIRRELS. 

however, exceptional, it usually being in dread of the 
presence of a human being. 

Wolves, of two species, red and black, occasionally 
prowl in the vicinity of sheep-cotes, especially in winter, 
but are not numerous, and where sheep are carefully 
herded, they may be successfully resisted. 

Traces of the dwellings of the beaver are observable 
adjacent to lakes and streams in both colonies. In one 
twelvemonth, 780 beaver-skins, a few years ago, were 
collected by a single establishment of the Hudson's Bay 
Company in Vancouver Island. Like many other fur- 
bearing animals, this one is on the increase, since the 
influx of whites to these Pacific shores, in consequence of 
the Hudson's Bay Company divesting itself to a consider- 
able extent of its fur-trading character, and trappers 
devoting their attention to the more exciting pursuits 
connected with gold-mining. 

It is impossible to go many miles into the agricultural 
districts without seeing squirrels, which feed upon the 
cones of pine-trees. They are different generally from 
the species found in England. The hotel-keepers of 
Victoria employ men to shoot this as well as other sorts 
of game for the table. 

Eats are enemies to settlers in these colonies, as in all 
other new countries ; and sometimes the marmot is 
domesticated, under the impression that rats avoid 
proximity to the latter animal. 

Neither hare nor rabbit is known to exist in Vancouver 
Island, though varieties of both inhabit British Columbia, 
differing, however, in appearance and habits from those 
belonging to the parent country. 

The stag and elk (Canadian) abound, and some have 
been shot equal to a horse in stature, and weighing 600 
lbs. Their antlers are very handsome. 



DEER — MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 301 

Deer are found in both colonies in large numbers. In 
particular districts, and at certain parts of the year, the 
farmer need not pass many days without having an op- 
portunity of procuring venison, if he be a fair shot. I 
have known this creature to be so tame as to approach a 
farm-house and stand within a gun-shot of the door. 
But I cannot say that I ever found deer-flesh thoroughly 
palatable except when stewed. It is, however, a favourite 
dish with most persons in the country. The ordinary 
weight of deer is from 60 to 80 lbs., and they are fattest 
towards autumn. 

The mountain-sheep prevails in British Columbia. This 
is a large animal, weighing, when full-grown, several 
hundred pounds. It is covered with long hair, resembling 
coarse wool, and supplied with enormous crooked horns, 
upon which it is said to strike when throwing itself from 
precipices in seeking to escape pursuit. The flesh is 
esteemed equal to that of the domesticated sheep, but it 
is rarely the hunter bags or even gets a sight of them. 
They are exceedingly shy and solitary in their habits, 
always keeping on the tops of the most wild and rugged 
mountains. Even when the snow falls deep they do not 
come down, as do other animals, in quest of the milder 
climate and more abundant feed of the valleys. 

Birds of prey may be glanced at, of which the great 
fish eagle is entitled to primary notice. Couples of these 
white-headed birds may frequently be seen gliding ma- 
jestically through the air, or descending in a graceful 
swoop to their nest among the branches of some lofty 
pine. 

The fish hawk, the harrier, and the sharp-shinned 
hawk are commonly met with. The great snow owl I 
have sometimes observed upon the housetops in Victoria 
in a bright morning. The pigmy owl is also found. 



302 HUMMING BIRDS — PIGEONS. 

The note of the cuckoo is to be heard, and wood- 
peckers are numerous. 

Humming-birds of several kinds exist, and are visible 
early in spring, flitting from tree to tree in search of 
opening buds, A night-hawk comes forth after sun-down 
on calm summer evenings, having a croaking sound, and 
is invariably accompanied with a smaller bird distinguished 
by a feeble monotonous chirp. The belted kingfisher and 
the flycatchers have their representatives. Among the 
singing birds, which are few, are the violet green swallow, 
wrens, creepers, nuthatches, titmice, shore larks, finches, the 
red crossbill, snow bunting, sparrows, and the red- winged 
blackbird. But the cheerful warble of the English black- 
bird is greatly missed by emigrants from the parent 
country. The crow species includes the American raven, 
the fish crow, and the common crow. Blue jays I have 
seen in large numbers in the fall and beginning of winter. 

Pigeons, doves, and grouse (dusky, blue, ruffed, willow, 
and sharp-tailed, the sage-cock, prairie hen, and ptarmigan). 
All of these possess excellent flavour, and the blue grouse 
in particular weighs 4^ lbs. It is accustomed to perch on 
the highest branch of a pine-tree, and will stand repeated 
charges from a gun without moving ; it can only be 
brought down by the rifle. The chief obstacle to the 
enjoyment of a thorough sportsman in relation to these 
varieties of game is that they are too easily shot. 

The crane, golden plover, kill-deer, ring plover, the surf- 
bird, Bachman's oyster-catcher, and turnstone ; English 
snipe, grey snipe, Jack snipe, sandpiper, and sanderlings. 

Swans frequent the lakes of both colonies, and innu- 
merable quantities of geese are ushered in with winter, 
among which may be enumerated the snow goose, the 
white-fronted goose, the Brant goose, and the Canada 
goose ; the latter often reaches 17 lbs. in weight. Ducks 



REPTILES — INSECTS. 303 

are equally abundant, including the mallard, black duck, 
pin-tailed, green-winged teal, spoonbill, American wid- 
geon, summer duck, scaup duck, canvas-back, golden-eye, 
buffle-head, and harlequin duck. Among the sea ducks 
are the velvet duck, the surf duck, and the scoter. Among 
the fishing ducks are the goosander, the red-breasted mer- 
ganser, the hooded merganser, and another not named. 

In a sub-order of the same species may be specified 
the sooty albatross and two or three petrels. Among the 
gulls the glaucous-winged gull, the herring gull, and the 
western gull. Among the cormorants the violet-green 
cormorant. Among the divers the great northern diver, 
the black- throated, the Pacific, and the red- throated. 
The waters around Vancouver Island abound with the sea 
dove, the tufted puffin, and the horn-billed guillemot. 

In enumerating Reptiles, snakes in several varieties 
should not be overlooked, few if any of which are venom- 
ous. They are used by the natives as an article of diet, 
being eaten by them as soon as skinned. Lizards and 
bull frogs cross the path of the traveller in summer, and 
the incessant croaking of the latter in the quiet evenings 
of summer is as irritating as it is found to be in the West 
Indies. I can only remember to have seen a solitary 
worm since my arrival in the country. 

The Insect kingdom boasts some beautiful varieties of 
dragonflies, beetles, and butterflies. The insects felt to 
be most vexatious hitherto have been horseflies, blackflies, 
sandflies, and mosquitos. The two latter are so numer- 
ous as to prove an intolerable pest in many parts of 
British Columbia. But where the smoke of settlements 
ascends, and the land is brought under cultivation, those 
enemies of man and beast disappear. In the island they 
are rare, and their numbers annually diminish in New 
Westminster and the other growing centres on the main- 



304 FLORA. 

land. On the Fraser it was my experience to find them 
most troublesome at the mouth of the Harrison. On a 
part of the trail to Cariboo, too, above Clinton, they 
attack with malignant effect, so that no traveller to the 
mines should go thither unprovided with a ' mosquito 
bar.' 

The Flora of the colonies present an interesting object 
of study to the practical botanist. Water-lilies, crow- 
foots, eressworts, berberry-worts, ' Oregon grape,' violet- 
worts, cranesbills, rhammads, blue lupine, purple clover, 
and several varieties of vetch, grow everywhere in wild 
profusion. Eoseworts of certain species are very numer- 
ous. In the month of May the plains are covered with 
the wild rose and sweetbrier, and are redolent of delightful 
fragrance. Wild apples, the mountain-ash, the service- 
tree, and cluster-berry are found. On clear ground 
the huckle-berry, blue-berry, salmon-berry, raspberry, 
wortle-berry, gooseberry, and the flowering currant 
abound. The conium, the dogwood-tree, the elder-tree, 
and the campanula also add picturesqueness to the land- 
scape. Cranberries are extensively consumed in the 
country, and have become an article of valuable export. 
They are used by the Indians as food, and are now 
gathered and put up in casks by the whites for sale in 
San Francisco. Several hundred barrels, containing 30 
gallons each, are already annually exported by a few 
small traders. Hemp and flax grow wild ; and from a 
certain wild nettle, the Urtica cannabina, the natives 
manufacture twine, rope, and nets. Oak is abundant in 
the southern part of Vancouver Island, though very 
scarce in British Columbia. The astringent properties of 
the bark of this tree render it important for tanning pur- 
poses. The hazel-nut is common in the latter colony. 
The common birch, abundant and of large size in the 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF ANIMALS. 



305 



northern parts of British Columbia, is of inferior dimen- 
sions southward. The alder is large, and a favourite 
wood for turners. 

To Conifers reference has been made in preceding 
pages. The cedar (red and yellow) exists in con- 
siderable quantities, and often attains greater dimen- 
sions than the pine. It is sometimes found above 30 feet 
in girth near the base. From the bark articles of wear- 
ing apparel are made by the natives, and the houses of 
the settlers are usually roofed with ' shingles,' answering 
the purpose of slates, made from this wood. 

Among the Grasses may be enumerated white pea, 
wild bean, ground nut, reed, meadow grass, white clover, 
bent spear grass, wild oat, wild timothy, sweet grass, &c. 
The fern, so prolific and annoying to the farmer, often 
reaches the height of from 6 to 8 feet. 

For some of the particulars in the above classification 
I acknowledge obligation to the list prepared by the 
late Dr. Wood, E. N. 

The following scientific names of animals found in 
Vancouver Island has been adopted by Dr. Forbes, E. 1ST., 
from vol. 8, ' Pacific Eailroacl Eeports ' — 

LIST OF ANIMALS. 



Felis concolor L. 
Lynx fasciatus Raf. 
Canis occidentalis var. griseo albus. 
Canis occidentalis var. nubilus. 
Vulpes macrourus Baird. 
Mustela Pennantii Erxl, 
Putoiius Vison Baird. 
Mustela americana Turton. 
Procyon Hernandezii Baird. 
Castor canadensis Kuhl. 
Ursus americanus Pallas. 
Gulo luscus. 



Lutra californica Gray. 

Enliydra marina Fleming. 

Sciurus Douglasii. 

Cervus canadensis. 

Cervus Columbianus. 

Mustela erminea. 

Fiber zibetliecus. 

Platyrliynclius leoninus. 

Phoca vitulina, and Arctoceplialus 

ursinus. 
Aplocerus montanus. 
Falco columbarius. 



306 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF BIRDS. 



LIST OF BIRDS FOUND ON VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



Falco sparverius. 
Astur atricapillus. 
Accipiter fuscus. 
Buteo montanus. 
Halaeitus leucocepbalus. 
Bubo virginianus. 
Nyctea nivea. 
Nyctale acadica. 
Glaucidiuni gnoma. 
Picus Harrisii. 
Picus Gairdneri. 
Spbyropicus ruber. 
Hylatomus pileatus. 
Colaptes mexicanus. 
Selasphorus rufus. 
Cbordeiles Popetue. 
Ceryle Alcyon. 
Contopus borealis. 
Turdus migratorius. 
Turd us nasvius. 
Sialia mexicana. 
Regulus Calendula. 
Regulus satrapa. 
Anthus ludovicianus. 
Geothlypis Macgillivrayi. 
Helmintbopbaga celata. 
Dendroica Audubonii. 
Dendroica aestivi. 
Pyranga ludoviciana. 
Hirundo borreorum. 
Hirundo bicolor. 
Hirundo thalassina. 
Vireo gilvus. 
Vireo solitarius. 
Troglodytes hyemalis. 
Salpinctes obsoletus. 
Sitta aculeata. 
Parus rufescens. 
Carpodacus californicus. 
Chrysomitris pinus. 
Zonotricbia Gambelli. 
Zonotrichia coronata. 
Junco oregonus. 



Spizella socialis. 
Melospiza rufina. 
Passarella Townsendii. 
Guiraca melanocepbala. 
Pipilo oregonus. 
Sturnella neglecta. 
Scoleeopbagus cyanocepbalus. 
Agelaius phoeniceus. 
Corvus carnivorus. 
Corvus caurinus. 
Cyanura Stellerii. 
Columba fasciata. 
Tetrao obscurus. 
Bonasa Sabinii. 
Grus canadensis. 
Ardea Herodias. 
Apbriza virgata. 
Haematopus niger. 
Strepsilas melanocepbalus. 
Gallinago Wilsoni. 
Gambetta melanoleuca. 
Fulica aniericana. 
Cygnus aniericanus. 
Bernicla canadensis. 
Bernicla leucopareia. 
Bernicla Hutchinsii. 
Anser byperborea. 
Anas Boscbas. 
Nettion carolinensis. 
Mareca aniericana. 
Fulix Marila. 
Antbia Vallisneria. 
Bucepbala americana. 
Bucephala albeola. 
Histrionicus torquatus. 
Harelda glacialis. 
Melanetta velvetina. 
Pelionetta perspicillata. 
Mergus americana. 
Mergus serrator. 
Lopbodytes cucullatus. 
Graculus violaceus. 
Diomedea bracbyura. 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF SHELLS. 307 



Larus glaiiceseens. 
Larus Suckleyi. 
Colymbus torquatus. 
Colymbus arcticus. 
Colymbus septentrionalis. 



Podiceps griseigena. 
Podiceps occidentalis. 
Podiceps cornutus. 
Uria columba. 
Brachyramphus marmoratus. 






LIST OF SHELLS, 

From the Bocks and Dredge off Esquimalt and Victoria Harbours. 
Palliobranchiata : 

Terebratellidcs, Terebratella cauria and pulvinata. 
Lamellibeanchiata : 

Solmidce — Solen sicarius. 

Tellinidce — Macoma nasuta, Strigilla caurina. 

Veneridce — Tapes Petitii. 

Cardiadce — Cardium Nuttalli. 

Mytilidce — Mytilus edulis, Modiola modiolus, Modiola 
nitens. 

Pectinidce — Pecten bericius. 

Ostrceidce — Ostrea concbapbila. 

SCUTIBEANCHIATA : 

ChitonidcB — Tonicia lineata, Mapalia vespertina, Ka- 
tberina tunicata, Cryptocbiton Stelleri. 

Acmceidce — Acmaea patina, Acmsea pelta, Acmsea per- 
sona, Acmaea spectrum, Scurria Mitra. 

Fissurellidce — Glypbis aspera, Puncturella cucullata. 

Trochidce — Zizipbinus annulatus, Zizipbinus filosus. 
Pectinibeanchiata : 

Calyptrceidce — Galerus fastigiatus, Crepidula incurva. 

Cerithiadce — Ceritbidea sacrata. 

Littorinidce — Littorina sticbana, Littorina plena. 

Naticidce — Natica clausa. 

Tritonidce — Argobuccinum oregonense. 

Purpuridce — Purpura decemcostata, Purpura emargi- 
nata, Purpura lactuca. 

Buccinidce — Nassa mendica. 

Muricidce — Cbrysodomus antiquus, Cbrysodomus Sit- 
cbana. 

LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS NOT PKEVIOUSLY GIVEN IN 
THESE PAGES. 

Populus tremuloides. 
Pyrus rivularis. 
Salix Scouleriana. 
x 2 



308 



ADDITIONAL LIST. 



SHRUBBERY UNDER GROWTH. 



Corylus americana. 
Cornus Drumniondii. 
Berberis aquifolium. 
Philadelphus macropetalus. 
Rubus nutkanus, leucodermis. 
Ribes divaricatum, niveum, and san- 

guineum 
Amelanchier canadensis. 
Sambucus glauca. 
Gaultheria Shallon. 



Vaccinimn ovatum, ovalifolium, 

and parvifolium. 
Symphoricarpus racemosus. 
Rubus spectabilis. 
Frangula Purshiana. 
Lonicera occidentalis. 
Hedera. 

Crataegus coccinea ? 
Lonicera involucrata. 
Rosa fraxinifolia. 



GRASSES, LEGUMINOUS PLANTS, ETC. 



Trifolium repens. 
Glyceria aquatica. 
Poa pratensis ? 
Festuca pratensis. 



Phleum pratense. 

Stipa avenacea ? 

Juncus. 

Primula veris vel Douglasii. 



In addition to the leguminous plants and grasses given 
above, are the following, extracted from a list kindly sent 
me by Professor Balfour, of the University of Edinburgh. 
They form part of a collection now being made by the 
' British Columbia Botanical Association ' of Edinburgh, 
through their agent in these colonies. This spirited 
scientific body have already expended nearly 1,000£. in 
prosecuting their interesting labours : — 



Carex sp. 
Luzula sp. 
Cornus Nuttallii. 
Spiraea paniculata. 
Taxus sp. 
Spiraea opulifolia. 
Alnus orogona. 
Acer circinatum. 
Arbutus Menziesii. 
Panax borridum. 
Spiraea sp. 



Rumex sp. 
Liliaceae. 
Vicia sp. 



Convallaria sp. 
Epilobium sp. 
Rhododendron sp. 
Pinus ponderosa. 
Wellingtonia gigantea. 
Centaurea sp. 
Rhus sp. 
Cruciferae. 
Allium sp. 
Malva sp. 
Scropbulariaceae. 
Andromeda sp. 
Sedum sp. 
Geranium sp. 
Picea amabilis. 



ADDITIONAL LIST. 



309 



Saxifraga sp. 
Lilium sp. 
Oreodaphne sp. 
Polygonum sp. 
Ericaceae. 
Lychnis sp. 
Hieraciurn sp. 
Rubus leucoderniis. 
Sonchus sp. 



Veronica sp. 
Umbelliferae. 
Labiatse. 
Artemisia sp. 
Lonicera Douglasii. 
Potentilla sp. 
Pyrola sp. 
Abies sp. 



310 



CHAPTER XIII. 



POLITICAL STATISTICS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND BRITISH 

COLUMBIA. 



Grant of Vancouver Island to the Hudson's Bay Company — Governor 
Blanshard — Germ of the Colonial Legislature — Appointment of Governor 
Douglas — Dispute between Independent Colonists and the Authorities — 
Sources of Revenue — First Bill of Appropriation — Disproportionate 
Paraphernalia of Government — Rates of Taxation — Estimates for 1864 
— Opposition of the Legislature to the Proposals of the Duke of Newcastle 
— The First Legislative Council of British Columbia — Reception of 
Governor Kennedy — The Question of Union between the two Colonies — 
Public Expenditure of the British Columbian Government in 1863— 
Check given to Lnmigration in 1858 by the restrictive Policy of the 
Colonial Government and the Hudson's Bay Company — Testimony of the 
Grand Jury. 



Vancouver Island. 

It has been shown that, by deed of grant from the 
Crown, the Hudson's Bay Company were allowed abso- 
lute control of this colony for a period of ten years from 
January 1849. On the execution of that document, 
Eichard Blanshard, Esq., was appointed first governor 
by Her Majesty. 

The charter provided that all civil and military ex- 
penses should be defrayed by the company, and his 
Excellency accepted office on the express understanding 
that the company should use proper exertion to attract 
population to the island, so that in a short time the local 
revenue from land sales and royalties on minerals would 



GOVERNOR BLANSHARD. 311 

be sufficiently increased to admit of a civil list being 
framed for the maintenance of Government. In con- 
sideration of no salary being in the first instance attached 
to the newly created dignity, it was arranged that the 
governor should receive 1,000 acres of land adjacent to 
Victoria, and that his passage out should be paid by the 
company. After a residence of two years in the country 
his Excellency, who endeavoured to discharge his duties 
conscientiously, resigned office, on the ground of the 
unhandsome treatment he received from the local heads 
of the company, who failed to remunerate his services in 
any form. Not even in regard to a governor's residence 
was their pledge redeemed ; and towards an outlay of 
300/. incurred by Mr. Blanshard in the voyage out, all 
he received from them was 175/. Yet, in consequence of 
the high rate of prices occasioned by the gold-fever in 
the neighbouring state of California, it cost him 1,100/. 
per annum to live. The chief officers of the company 
were supplied with articles of domestic consumption at 
33 per cent, advance upon cost price, the inferior officers 
at from 50 to 100 per cent., and independent settlers — 
who were also compelled to purchase from the company 
- — at the Californian rate, which was about 300 per cent, 
upon English invoice prices. The vexation experienced 
by Governor Blanshard was aggravated by this gratuitous 
officer of the Crown being obliged to pay for the neces- 
saries of life on the latter exorbitant scale.* 

On the retirement of Mr. Blanshard, Mr. Douglas was 
appointed as representative of Her Majesty — probably 
through the influence of some of the directors of the 
company in London, who were alive to the additional 



* Evidence of Governor Blanshard before the Committee of the House of 
Commons, on the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1857. 



312 APPOINTMENT OF MR. DOUGLAS. 

facility that would be afforded them in giving effect to 
their schemes of monopoly by having their chief factor at 
Victoria invested with the powers of Crown agent. It 
has been stated in the second Chapter how difficult it 
was for a gentleman, whose interests from boyhood had 
been associated with the company, to resist altogether 
the temptation offered by his position to give the duties 
he owed his old employers, from whom he still derived 
the greater part of his income, precedence over those 
claimed by his Sovereign. 

The company were no longer restrained, by the presence 
of an impartial and independent representative of the 
Crown, from aggrandising themselves to the detriment of 
the general prosperity of the colony. But for the irre- 
sponsible control thus inconsiderately placed in the com- 
pany by the Imperial authorities, the large revenue 
appropriated by the former from the sale of town allot- 
ments in Victoria would have passed to the colonial trea- 
sury, to which it legitimately belonged ; and protracted 
disputes, still unsettled, between the Crown and the com- 
pany as to their respective rights in the lands of the 
colony, would have been averted. 

The peculiarity of Mr. Blanshard's situation as pioneer 
governor necessitated that he should unite in himself the 
functions of executive and judge. In the latter capacity 
he was chiefly occupied in adjusting differences between 
the company and their servants — the ordinary cause of 
grievance being some alleged breach of contract by the 
employers. 

The germ of colonial legislation was planted by Governor 
Blanshard in the formation of a legislative council, consist- 
ing of three members. The few settlers who were uncon- 
nected with the company expressed deep concern on the 
resignation of the first governor, that the a3gis which had 



INCIPIENT PARLIAMENT. 313 

alone protected them from the apprehended despotism of 
the company should be withdrawn, and these defenceless 
colonists knew not how soon the lords of the soil might 
render their condition uncomfortable. 

By direction of the Eight Hon. H. Labouchere, then 
H.M. Principal Secretary for the Colonies, Mr. Douglas, 
on assuming the government, issued a proclamation in 
1856, calling on freeholders, being British subjects, in the 
colony, to elect members to serve in the legislative as- 
sembly about to be constituted. The following districts 
were endowed with power to elect representatives, in the 
proportion given below : — 



District of Victoria 

„ Esquimalt and Metcliosin 
Nanainio 



t> 



3 members. 

2 „ 

1 

1 „ 



This incipient parliament, comprising seven members, 
was opened on August 12, 1856, by Governor Douglas, in 
a speech amusingly magniloquent for so unpretending an 
occasion. The quahfication for voters was fixed at the 
value of twenty acres freehold, and candidates for legisla- 
tive honours were required to possess real property worth 
300/. This is remarkable as the first instance of repre- 
sentative institutions being granted at so early a stage in 
the history of a British colony. 

Scarcely had Governor Douglas entered upon the 
enjoyment of his new dignity when, on the plea of pro- 
moting the settlement of the colony, he urged upon the 
Imperial Government the advisability of allowing the 
thousand acres set apart as a governor's reserve to be 
thrown open for purchase. Whether it was by design or 
coincidence is not here asserted, but this land was bought 
almost immediately by his Excellency and the Surveyor- 
General, at a mere nominal figure. The governor, it will 



314 NEPOTISM OF MR. DOUGLAS. 

be admitted, took disinterested and public ground, to some 
purpose, in his appeal to the Secretary for the Colonies ; 
for while poor immigrants received no benefit from 
this concession of the home authorities, Mr. Douglas and 
his friend enriched themselves immensely by the opera- 
tion. 

Ever-recurring causes of irritation and discontent be- 
tween the settlers and the company kept the two parties 
in relations of perpetual discord. The first great signal 
for rupture, after Mr. Douglas entered upon office, was the 
appointment by him of his brother-in-law, Mr. Cameron, 
to the Chief Justiceship of the colony. This gentleman, 
though unversed in the mysteries of law before ascending 
the bench, has up to the present time exhibited a degree 
of prudence, firmness, and candour in his official decisions, 
which proves that he does not consider his position a sine- 
cure. Still, his relationship to the governor, the situation 
from which he was directly elevated, as clerk of the coal- 
works at ISTanaimo, and the disappointed ambition of rival 
competitors for the dignity he had attained, combined to 
render his appointment very unpopular. The breach be- 
tween the settlers and the executive was widened. They 
memorialised the Home Government against the services 
of the new judge being continued, arguing that, under so 
unlearned a dispenser of justice, and one in so much risk 
of being trammelled by his dependence on the patronage 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, their lives and property 
were endangered. 

Another development of the family compact that arose 
beneath the rule of his Excellency was the election of 
Mr. Helmcken, his son-in-law, a surgeon of the company, 
to be Speaker of the House of Assembly. A gentleman 
who married the governor's niece became Colonial Secre- 
tary ; a second son-in-law became Mr. Douglas's private 






FIRST SUPPLY BILL. 315 

secretary ; and a third, Eegistrar-General of British Co- 
lumbia. 

The only available sources of revenue before 1858 were 
land sales and duty on licensed houses. The income of 
the island in 1853 was 220/. ; in 1854, 460/. ; and in 1855, 
340/. The expenditure for the year 1855, up to Novem- 
ber 1, was 4,107/. 2s. 3d. 

The first bill of appropriation was laid before the House 
in December '56, and is a unique document which will, 
at some future day, be looked at as not the least interest- 
ing among the archives of the colony : — 

Whereas it is necessary that certain sums of money be voted 
for defraying the unavoidable expenses attending the conduction 
of the business of the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island, 
be it enacted : — 

1st. That 50l. sterling be placed at the disposal of his Excel- 
lency the Governor, to defray the expenses of copying statistics 
and documents for the use of this house. 

2nd That 10/. sterling be granted to Mr. Eobert Barr, for his 
past services as clerk of this house. 

3rd. That 51. sterling be granted to Mr. Andrew Muir, for his 
past services as sergeant-at-arms. 

4th. That 251. be allowed for the salary of the clerk of the 
house, for the year 1857. 

5th. That 15/. be allowed for the salary of the sergeant-at- 
arms and messenger, for the year 1857. 

6th. That 20/. sterling be granted for lighting, heating, and 
furnishing the House of Assembly for the year 1857. 

7th. That 51. sterling be granted for stationery, for the use of 
the members of the House of Assembly. 

8th. That the above items be paid out of the revenue derived 
from the licences of July 16, 1856. 

In this primitive legislature the influence of the Hudson's 
Bay Company continued to predominate till 1859, when 
the term of the company's charter expired, and the colony 
fell under the immediate control of the Imperial Govern- 



316 REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTION PREMATURE. 

merit , At the close of that year a new parliament was 
elected, when the number of representatives was increased 
to thirteen. Another election has since taken place, and 
the familiarity of Mr. Helmcken with ' May's Parliamen- 
tary Practice,' together with his natural shrewdness, has 
secured for him continuance of office as Speaker of the 
House up to the present. 

Next to the error of putting Crown authority in the 
hands of a chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
was the indiscretion of granting a legislative assembly to 
so young a community. It is my decided impression that, 
even at the time I write, there is no necessity for such an 
institution. Till gentlemen of leisure, status, and ability 
could be found in sufficient numbers to apply themselves 
to the work of colonial legislation, and public opinion 
in the country has become more matured, with the ex- 
tended settlement of population, a governor and council 
would have been quite equal to the legislative require- 
ments of the island. 

I do not say that any grave inconvenience has arisen 
hitherto from the apparatus for making laws already at 
work in the colony; still, a small legislative assembly, com- 
posed principally of men of small means, unpaid for their 
services, may be in danger of carrying or impeding 
measures from interested motives ; and where the inha- 
bitants are* not generally of so permanent a description as 
to feel induced to watch with jealous care the debates of 
the House, facilities for such a breach of public trust are 
not wanting. Were irresponsible power lodged in the 
hands of an accredited and well-tried governor appointed 
by the Crown, there would be a safer guarantee that 
useful laws would be more expeditiously passed, and the 
interests of the people more effectually promoted. 

The paraphernalia of government that now surrounds 



SOURCES OF REVENUE. 



317 



our nascent colony is too elaborate to be suited to the 
simplicity of present wants, vividly recalling a picture in 
' Punch ' of Lord John Eussell in the clothes of Sir Eobert 
Peel, when the former succeeded to the premiership 
which had just been vacated by the latter. Those who 
remember the striking disparity apparent in the figures of 
the two men will at once perceive the force of the illus- 
tration. 

Besides a House of Assembly, there is an Executive 
Council, embracing a few officials of Government ; and 
a Legislative Council, in which sit the Chief Justice, 
Treasurer, Attorney-General, Eegistrar-General, the Co- 
lonial Secretary (when not holding a seat in the Lower 
House), and -several private citizens appointed by the 
Governor. 

The chief sources of colonial revenue at present avail- 
able are a tax of one per cent/assessed upon the market 
value of real estate, and a trading licence levied as 
follows : — Colonial traders pay an annual licence of five 
-pounds, and on merchants and traders in general a half- 
yearly assessment is levied, as shown by schedule A in 
6 Trade Licences Amendment Act, 1862.' 

Under £100, half-yearly 



£100 and 


V 


250 


V 


250 


?> 


500 


V 


500 


V 


1,000 


>f 


1,000 


» 


2,500 


V 


2,500 


J) 


5,000 


V 


5,000 


fj 


10,000 


•)■) 


10,000 


V 


20,000 


V 


20,000 


;> 


30,000 


7) 


30,000 


» 


40,000 


1) 


40,000 


V 


50,000 


V 




Above 50,000 


V 





£10 




1 10 




2 




3 10 




6 




9 




15 




25 




35 




45 




55 




60 



Lawyers are charged at the rate of 10/. ; bankers, 
50/.; civil engineers, architects, and surveyors, hi. ; 



318 



ESTIMATES FOR 1864. 



auctioneers, 50/.; real estate agents, 101; proprietors of 
billiard saloons, hi. per table ; and keepers of bowling- 
alleys, 21. 10s. per annum. 

It will be seen, from the subjoined estimates of colonial 
expenditure for the year 1864, that liquor licences and 
land sales still yield a considerable proportion of public 
income. The proceeds from the sale of Crown lands, 
however, are intended to be applied to the support of 
the civil list. 



Estimates for the Year 1864. 

ABSTRACT OF PROBABLE REVENUE — HEADS OP REVENUE. 



1. Real Estate Tax 




#65,300 


2. Trade Licences . 




27,580 


3. Liquor Licences 




24,000 


4. Land Sales 




31,912 


5. Land Revenue . 




1,528 


6. Harbour Dues 




17,000 


7. Postage Dues 




3,500 


8. Fines, Forfeitures, and Fees 




9,000 


9. Fees of Office . 




4,000 


10. Miscellaneous 




200 


11. Reimbursements 




1,000 


12. Lighthouses 




3,500 


Revenue for 1864 


. #188,520 


Arrears of Revenue 


25,000 


Due by the colony of British Columbia, on ac- 




count of temporary Loans, repayable on de- 




mand . . . . . 


43,650 


Due by the colony of British Columbia, on ac- 




count of Lighthouse expenditure 


4,384.63 


Advances to Crown Agents, London, to be ac- 




counted for 


55,104.97 


Balance of 40,000/. Loan, undrawn 6,168/. 


29,914.80 


Advances to the heads of Departments, to be 




accounted for .... 


148.50 


Due by the Corporation of the city of Victoria 


5,362 


Due by the Home Government 


10,258.85 


Balance in Treasury . 


23,525.68 






#385,869.43 



ESTIMATES FOR 1864. 



319 



Abstract of the Sums required to defray the Expenses of the 
Colonial Government of Vancouver Island for 1864. 



HEADS OF EXPENDITURE. 



1. Establishments :- 





Salaries 
Fixed 


Salaries 
P. and T. 


Office Rent 


Total 


The Governor 


#14,550 






$14,550 


Colonial Secretary . 


4,890 


$500 


#500 


5,890 


Treasurer 


4,110 


, , 


720 


4,830 


Auditor .... 


1,095 


. 


80 


1,175 


Surveyor-General 


4,125 


500 


580 


5,205 


Assessor .... 


2,425 


. 


406 


2,831 


Harbour-Master 


. , 


2,850 


250 


3,100 


Postmaster 




2,800 


175 


2,975 


Chief Justice . 


'6,380 


, , 


250 


6,630 


Attorney-General . 


2,455 


. 


250 


2,705 


Sheriff .... 


1,000 


250 


100 


1,350 


Registrar-General . 


1,940 


485 


250 


2,675 


Commissioner of Police . 




11,735 


100 


11,835 


Governor of Gaol 




4,840 


25 


4,865 


Magistrate, Nanaimo 




2,200 


50 


2,250 


Legislative Council . 




500 


100 


600 


House of Assembly . 




1,700 


1,750 


3,450 




$42,970 


$28,360 


$5,586 


#76,916 



2. Administration of Justice 

3. Charitable Allowances 

4. Police and Gaols 

5. Rent 

6. Education . 

7. Conveyance of Mails 

8. Works and Buildings 

9. Roads, Streets, and Bridges 

10. Miscellaneous 

11. Interest on 40,000/. Loan 

12. Sinking Fund for do. 

13. Lighthouses 

14. Revenue Services 



Total 



3,606 
2,750 

9,487 

1,760 

5,000 
11,800 
78,078 
51,800 
26,112.50 
11,640 

7,760 

7,000 

1,600 



$295,309.50 



The following sums, as compared with the tables that 



320 OPPOSITION TO THE CIVIL LIST. 

precede, will show the steady advance made in the annual 
income of the colony. 

Actual Revenue for 1861 .... £25,291 1 
„ 1862 .... 24 ; 017 

„ 1863 .... 30,000 

The amount received in 1862 may seem to indicate 
retrogression in colonial prosperty. But the reason of 
this apparently adverse result was that the collection of 
yearly instalments, due in that year by farmers upon land 
bought from the Government, was postponed in conse- 
quence of heavy losses of stock and produce sustained by 
them from an unusually severe winter, for the rigours of 
which recent settlement had rendered them unprepared. 
But for this circumstance the revenue for the year 1862 
would have considerably exceeded that of 1861. 

The civil list, detailed in the above estimates for 1864, 
was proposed by the Duke of Newcastle for the acceptance 
of the House of Assembly. His Grace intimated that the 
Crown lands of the colony — which were about to be con- 
veyed by the Hudson's Bay Company to the Home Govern- 
ment, on the claims of the former being liquidated — should 
forthwith be assigned to the Local Legislature. The con- 
dition of this transfer of Crown property by the Home 
Government to the House was that the salaries of the 
governor and the heads of departments should be 
defrayed from the proceeds of Crown land sales. But 
the proposition of the Principal Secretary of State for the 
Colonies met with the almost unanimous opposition of the 
Assembly ; the opinion advanced by the members being 
that the value, present and prospective, of the Crown 
lands was greatly over-estimated by the Duke of New- 
castle. Certain resolutions were passed by the House in 
February 1864, and the following quotation from these 



OPINION OF THE ASSEMBLY. 321 

will give a general idea of the objections on which the 
attitude of the Assembly was based : — 

The Legislative Assembly having had under consideration 
that part of the despatch of Her Majesty's Principal Secretary 
of State for the Colonies, dated June 15, 1863, wherein the pro- 
position is made to the effect that as soon as the Legislature of 
Vancouver Island shall have provided by permanent Act a civil 
list, amounting in all to 5,800£. (which his Grace considers the 
prospects of the revenue appear to render no more than fitting), 
that his Grace will be prepared to hold the Crown revenue of 
Vancouver Island at the disposal of the Legislature, and to place 
the colony under a governor, distinct from British Columbia, 
begs leave most respectfully to observe : — 

That the annual revenue of Vancouver Island, including that 
received from the sale of Crown lands, amounts to 35,000^., and 
that the population does not exceed 7,500 persons. 

That the ordinary expenses of Government are not less than 
27,000£. per annum; thus leaving a very small sum for the 
great necessity of the colony, viz., internal improvements. 

That the sum received from the sale of Crown lands in 1863 
amounted to 4,500'., much of this arising from the payment of 
instalments upon land sold some years ago at 11. per acre. 
Moreover, there is reason to believe as well on account of land 
having been reduced to 4s. per acre, as also of the amount of 
land being comparatively small, that the revenue from this 
source in future years will at all events not be greater. It may 
further be said that a considerable sum will be requisite for 
the extinction of Indian title to, and the surveying of, such 
land; and as a Grovernment residence for Her Majesty's repre- 
sentative does not exist, a still further outlay will be needed for 
the erection of such an edifice. 

The House is therefore of opinion that neither the condition 
of the general revenue, nor the income derived from Crown 
revenues, would justify the acceptation of the proposition of Her 
Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. 

In the middle of 1863, the Duke of Newcastle sanc- 
tioned the constitution of a Legislative Council for British 



322 RECEPTION OF GOVERNOR KENNEDY. 

Columbia, to be composed one half of Government 
officials and the other half of members elected by the 
people of the colony. At the close of the same year the 
announcement was formally made that a Governor was 
to be sent out for each of the colonies. It was then that 
the disputed civil list was first submitted for the considera- 
tion of the House of Assembly in Vancouver Island, and 
the conclusion arrived at that, as the latter colony was un- 
equal to maintaining efficiently a separate staff of officials, 
its union with British Columbia should be urgently 
sought. 

The decision of the House to this effect had just been 
transmitted to the Home Government when, in March 
'64, Captain Kennedy, the new Governor of the island, 
landed from England. The colonists, exulting in the last 
link of their connection with the sway, directly and in- 
directly, of the Hudson's Bay Company being broken, 
received the new representative of their Sovereign with 
manifestations of enthusiastic loyalty and respect. So 
delighted were they at the contrast between the quondam 
fur-trapper and his gentlemanly successor that, for days 
after the arrival of the latter, shouts of joy and emblems 
of congratulation were witnessed in every direction. But 
the gratification of Governor Kennedy by this warm 
reception was, doubtless, considerably moderated on his 
learning that his salary, in common with that of other 
officials, had been struck from the estimates for the year, 
by a unanimous vote of the Assembly. But as a man 
accustomed to quick and accurate observation, the 
Governor soon perceived that the resolutions of the House 
on the subject could not possibly be meant as any personal 
affront. The Legislature, having custody of the public 
rights simple, felt compelled to join issue with the Imperial 
Government on a measure which, if adopted according to 



TWO GOVERNORS UNNECESSARY. 323 

the instructions of the Duke of Newcastle, must, in the 
opinion of the House, have entailed taxation, which would 
be found oppressive to a population so small as is at pre- 
sent in the colony. 

It is no evidence of unproductiveness that at so early a 
period of colonial growth the expenditure of a dispropor- 
tionately heavy civil list cannot be met. At the same time 
I am unable to agree with . that part of the statements 
recorded by both Houses of the Legislature that present 
incapacity to hold a separate existence as a colony argues 
that sufficient revenues, from Crown lands and royalties 
on minerals, will not eventually be forthcoming to support 
comfortably an official staff. Still, the purport of the 
opinion expressed in both Houses concerning the desirable- 
ness of union, every one anxious for the prosperity of the 
country must approve. 

The enquiry would naturally occur to an intelligent 
visitor from any Australian or Atlantic colony, why should 
British possessions, divided by threescore miles of water- 
passage, containing an aggregate population of but fifteen 
or twenty thousand, and whose interests are indissolubly 
bound up together, be launched upon a career of separate 
existence ? The colony of New South Wales, for example, 
continued to embrace a vast tract of country which was 
not cut up into a plurality of colonies till an extensive 
increase of population had created that necessity. But this 
natural law governing the formation of other new settle- 
ments has been singularly reversed in the instance under 
consideration. And on whom rests the blame of this 
unhappy schism ? Had Sir James Douglas been as anxious 
to conciliate from the first the not unaccountable preju- 
dices of the people of New Westminster as he was to assert 
petty dignity, and to frown upon all who did not offer that 
exact measure of worship which he thought due to him as 

Y 2 



324 ESTIMATES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1863. 

the Grand Lama, the breach between the two colonies 
would never have occurred.* 

British Columbia. 

The affairs of this colony are administered by a Governor 
and Legislative Council. The heads of departments in- 
clude a description of functionaries similar to those who 
conduct the public business of Vancouver Island. The 
Treasurer is ex-officio Master of the Mint, his corps con- 
sisting of a Chief Assay er and Chief Melter, with their 
assistants. 

The accompanying financial statement is taken from the 
speech of Governor Douglas, delivered at the opening of 
the first session of the Legislative Council, held at West- 
minster in January '64, and shows a remarkably progres- 
sive spirit in a population that does not exceed 7,000 or 
8,000, and many of that number of a migratory class. 

Expenditure of the Colony for the Year 1863. 

Debtor balance from 1862 ..... £9,302 

Redemption of Road Bonds, created 1862 . . . 12,650 
Repayment of Advances to Imperial Government . . 7,000 
Civil Establishments, including Salaries, Allowances, Office Con- 
tingencies ... . . . . . 81,615 

Administration of Justice, Police Gaols . . . . 5,761 

Transports and other Expenses, Works and Buildings . . 15,288 

Public Roads . . . . . . 83,937 

Interest on Loans and Sinking Fund . . . . 13,725 

Colonial Pay and Maintenance of Detachment of Royal Engineers 7,057 

Conveyance of Mails ...... 2,223 

Miscellaneous ....... 4,302 

Total . . . . "£192,860 



* Governor Seymour, of British Columbia, showed admirable sense in the 
speech with which he opened the Legislative Council of that colony last 
December, when he gave it as his conviction that one governor of the colonies 
west of the Rocky Mountains was, for the present, sufficient. 



ESTIMATES CONTINUED. 



325 



Brought forward (Expenditure) 
The Public Revenue for the same period has produced, in round 
numbers ..... £110,000 

Bonds created and Loans contracted in aid of Revenue 65,805 



Excess of Expenditure over Income 

Due to Imperial Government in Repayment of Expenditure made 
on account of the Barracks and other Military Buildings 
erected for the use of Royal Engineers at New Westminster 
Total . 

Charge to be brought against the Revenue of 1864 : — 

Road Bonds falling due in '64 £4,250 

Interest on Loans . ... . . 8,000 

Sinking Fund ..... 6,500 

Expenditure on Civil Establishments, viz. Salaries, Allowances, 
and Contingencies ..... 

Other ordinary Expenses, viz. : — 



£192,860 



175,805 
17,055 



10,700 

£27,755 



18,750 



33,915 



Revenue Services . 




£425 




Administration of Justice 




1,900 




Police and Gaols 




3,650 




Charitable Allowances 




400 




Education .... 




500 




Rent .... 




150 




Transport . 




8,265 




Conveyance of Mails 




4,000 




Works and Buildings 




3,900 




Roads, Streets, and Bridges (Repairs) 




5,000 




Miscellaneous Services 




3,500 




Lighthouses . 




800 








27,490 


Total of ordinary, necessary, anc 


. probable Expen- 




diture for 1864 


i . £120,000 


£107,910 


Estimated Revenue from all sources for 186' 




Expenditure . . . . 




107,910 




Surplus for 1864 


. 


£12,090 



Instead of a surplus, however, the unforeseen expenses 
attending the pursuit and trial of Indians concerned in the 
fearful massacres perpetrated in the colony last year, 
amounting altogether to 16,000/., will cause the public 
accounts for '64 to show a small deficit. 



326 



POLICY OF GOVERNOR DOUGLAS. 



Comparative 


Statement of 


Customs Revenue {exclusive of 




Road Tolls) from 


1859- 


1863. 


1859 






#88,945.89 


1860 










171,010.03 


1861 










181,701.94 


1862* 










284,017.64 


1863 










276,161.10 



A serious check was given to the advancement of this 
colony by the restrictive policy of Governor Douglas, in 
his double capacity as agent of the Hudson's Bay Company 
and representative of the Crown in 1858, when a large 
immigration afforded an opportunity for rapid develop- 
ment which may not soon return. 

The despatches of Sir Bulwer Lytton, then Secretary of 
State for the Colonies, repeatedly urged upon the Governor 
the adoption of a liberal policy, and, as the sequel shows, 
not without sufficient reason. His Excellency issued 
orders that every person entering Fraser Eiver should be 
charged $2 head money ; that each miner should pay a 
royalty of #5, and that no one should be allowed to trade 
without first obtaining a permit, for which another charge 
was made. This latter arrangement, however, was a mere 
ruse, by which the public were made to suppose that they 
were at liberty to do business in British Columbia, though 
the monopoly of the company remained uninterrupted ; 
for when permits were applied for they were not to be 
had. The truth was that the company sought to exclude 
all goods from the country except such as might be 
shipped by themselves or bought at their stores. A 
permit was required to legalise the act of cutting down a 
tree or picking up clrift-wood on the beach for cooking 
purposes ! For every cord of wood sold by an axeman 

* The special increase this year was occasioned by unusually large immi- 
gration. 



POLICY OF GOVERNOR DOUGLAS. 327 

he was charged ten per cent. No shelter could be erected 
between the head of the miner and the nightly chill 
without a tax of $1\ being paid for the privilege. No 
canoe, navigated by white men, not servants of the com- 
pany, could ascend the Fraser without a ' sufferance ' 
charge of $6 being exacted. There was a similar impost 
upon vessels, amounting to $12. 

Head-money and licence to trade, to run up a log shanty 
or pitch a tent, were charges believed to have been made 
by the Governor as chief factor of the company, under 
warrant of their claim to the exclusive right of trading 
in the territory, though that alleged right had relation, 
according to the terms of the charter, only to transactions 
with the Indians. A mule- tax was subsequently attempted 
to be imposed by Mr. Douglas in behalf of the Crown, but 
was overruled by the united voice of the inhabitants. 

There was every propriety in measures being planned 
for raising a revenue to defray expenses connected with 
Government and the public works of the colony. But it 
was thought the tariff already in force — given in a pre- 
vious chapter — with certain other taxes, would yield 
sufficient to meet present wants. To saddle with an 
incubus of taxation adventurous pioneers, intrepid ex- 
plorers, and enterprising traders, who were staking their 
all in developing a country bristling with formidable 
difficulties of access, evinced a degree of governmental 
inexperience and mismanagement without parallel in the 
history of British colonisation. The most liberal encou- 
ragement ought to have been extended to those hardy 
and industrious immigrants, irrespective of their nationality, 
who were willing to bear the tremendous risks necessarily 
incident to the primary stage of colonial settlement. But 
his Excellency entertained undisguised and indiscrimi- 
nate prejudice against persons hailing from California. 



328 CHECK TO IMMIGKATION IN 1858. 

Doubtless the first tide of immigration from that State 
wafted to the colony many unruly members of society. 
But that class is by no means confined to the United 
States ; and justice compels me to state that but for the 
energy and perseverance brought to bear by those from 
the neighbouring Eepublic, our resources would still have 
remained comparatively sealed. The capitalists of Great 
Britain have thus far appeared even less interested in 
British Columbia than they are in many a foreign country. 

It might naturally be supposed that after witnessing 
the disastrous results of the policy I have indicated in the 
reduction of the population from 30,000 to one-fifteenth 
part of that number — which was the state of things on 
my arrival, eighteen months after the excitement of March 
'58 — the Governor would have shown signs of regret for 
previous indiscretion. Yet in his first conversation with 
me at Government House he still clung to the opinion 
that ' foreigners ought not to be encouraged to extract 
the precious metals from our soil to enrich their own 
territory.' 

Bather than permit the merchants of California, on 
whom we were unavoidably dependent for supplies, in 
the first instance — owing to our great distance from other 
parts of the British empire— to profit by the trade which 
would be created by throwing open our mines to the 
world, his Excellency would keep our mineral treasures 
locked up. Had so glaring a fallacy been acted upon by 
the authorities of California in 1849, when crowds rushed 
to that State in quest of gold, and barriers been delibe- 
rately thrown in the way of traders from Chili, whence 
most grain imports were brought to feed the gold-seekers, 
how injurious must have been the effect upon the settle- 
ment of the magnificent lands watered by the Sacramento 
and the San Joachin ! The representatives of every clime, 



RED-TAPEISM. 329 

however, were admitted with equal welcome to compete 
in the race for the precious metal, and in fifteen years a 
population of nearly a million has collected in a State the 
most prosperous in the world. True to the exclusive 
propensities nurtured under the regime of the company, 
his Excellency dreaded rapid progress as associated with 
anarchy, foreign annexation, and other frightful appari- 
tions of a mind habituated to the associations of semi- 
barbarism. The absurdity of his conduct could not have 
been more flagrant had he imagined the wealth of the 
colony to be most effectually secured by retaining the 
gold in the earth. It seemed to have been his impression 
that unless our resources were clisembedded by purely 
English hands, colonial impoverishment must inevitably 
ensue. But no one need be informed that the riches of 
a country are only fictitious till its productions are evolved 
by capital and labour, and occasion money to be put in 
circulation. 

Multitudes hastened in former years to California and 
Australia from every part of Europe, with the intention 
of simply acquiring a competency, and afterwards returning 
to their native country. But in most cases their affections 
became gradually loosened from their former homes, 
and entwined around their new abode, till at length 
they resolved to make the latter a permanent place of 
residence. Thus would it have been with thousands who 
visited British Columbia seven years ago, the benefit of 
whose means and industry were hopelessly lost to the 
country through the blunders of the local executive. 

The cumbrous system of ' red-tapeism ' which hindered 
the development of the mines, proved equally mischievous 
in preventing the settlement of agricultural districts. 
Land in '58 could rarely be had in British Columbia on 
any terms, not even at the Government price. The uni- 



330 NO LAND AT ANY PEICE. 

form reply to all who made application for farming tracts 
was, that the land must first be surveyed under official 
direction, and put up at auction, before it could be taken 
possession of, and that all squatters would be visited with 
summary ejectment. Such was the repulsive salutation 
with which hundreds were met on their arrival, who had 
broken up fond ties elsewhere, and undertaken an expen- 
sive voyage, with the view of cultivating the soil — men 
who were at once unhindered by natural obstacles, and 
furnished with the means of improving farming allotments. 
Nor did this injudicious mode of treatment on the part of 
the authorities result merely in the exclusion of the parties 
immediately concerned, but also in that of many of their 
relations, who would probably have been subsequently 
attracted to the country by their representations. 

Mr. D. G. F. Macdonald, whom I cannot recommend as 
an infallible guide in general to intending emigrants, 
nevertheless records a well-authenticated illustration of 
this official folly. He applied to the Chief Commissioner 
of Lands, in behalf of certain clients, for a thousand acres 
of land, in March 1859. A proclamation had been issued 
by the Governor, dated February of that year, to the 
effect 4 that the price of land not being intended for the 
sites of towns, and not being expected to be mineral lands, 
shall be ten shillings per acre, payable one half in cash at 
the time of the sale, and the other half at the end of two 
years from such sale. Provided that under special circum- 
stances some other price, or some other terms of payment, 
may from time to time be specially announced for parti- 
cular localities.' After considerable delay, the Chief Com- 
missioner, doubtless at the suggestion of the Governor, 
declined to entertain the application of Mr. Macdonald, 
though made in exact conformity to the terms of the 
proclamation. The latter gentleman was obliged to inform 



DOINGS IN THE LAND OFFICE. dol 

his clients that the lands could not be had at any price 
till first surveyed and put up at public auction, no efforts 
being made by the authorities to facilitate the object 
sought. Many other applicants for land, having all the 
qualities suitable for rendering them successful pioneer 
farmers, driven away by the narrow and dilatory policy 
of those in power, have since distributed themselves in 
the United States, Canada, and Australia. 

Witnesses examined recently before the Crown Lands 
Committee in Vancouver Island, in '64, brought to light 
culpable acts committed in the Land Office of that colony 
in '58, whereby the desires and hopes of intending settlers 
were similarly disappointed. When a wish was expressed 
by an applicant to record a piece of land, and the Colonial 
Surveyor suspected it to be of superior quality, his custom 
was to ask the person to call in a day or two that he 
might obtain time to ascertain whether or not it had 
been previously disposed of. It is reported that in the 
meantime he communicated with certain of his land- 
speculating friends ; and should they feel inclined to buy 
it, the one having a prior right of application was put 
off with the story that the holding on which he had 
set his mind was already the property of another.* 

The high price of land demanded by the Government 
in British Columbia at the outset was of itself a sufficiently 
powerful drawback to the progress of agricultural settle- 
ment, without the addition of such annoyances as have 
been described. What could have induced the Govern- 
ment to charge 10s. per acre for land in that colony, when 
it could be ' pre-empted ' south of the 49th parallel at 
little more than 4s. per acre, it is difficult to conceive. 
The policy of the United States Government, admirably 
suited to promote the spread of agriculture, allows to every 

* Evidence of Mr. Homfray, C.E., before the Crown Lands Committee. 



332 GRAND JUEY TESTIMONY. 

head of a family 160 acres of unsold land, whether sur- 
veyed or not, at the figure just specified, payable in 
instalments. A liberal modification of this system now 
obtains in British territory on both sides of the Gulf of 
Georgia. But the change was not brought about till one 
remonstrance after another was addressed to the Governor, 
and multitudes, with patience exhausted, had made their 
exit from the country. 

The testimony of the grand jury of the colony, com- 
posed of the most intelligent citizens, in deliberating upon 
its grievances in 1860, substantiates the view of the subject 
that has been advanced above. It was asserted in their 
published declaration that, about the period to which my 
remarks refer, two hundred British subjects had been com- 
pelled to leave the country, within a few weeks, in conse- 
quence of the unjustifiable delay that was suffered to 
elapse in providing them with land for settlement, and 
that many had expended a great part of their limited 
means while awaiting the decision of the Government. 
The grand jury 'expressed their unqualified disapproval 
of land being sold by auction, as that course enabled the 
speculator to purchase to the detriment of the settler.' 

Every facility ought ungrudgingly to be afforded the 
industrious bona-flde tiller of the ground entering the 
wilds of a new country, with perhaps a family, and subject 
to the endurance of unavoidable hardships and privations. 
So far from throwing barriers in his way, it were more 
expedient to convey the land to him in free grant as an 
inducement to exertion. But that the monopoly of land- 
speculators may be repressed, I would, without the least 
hesitation or pity for their condition, advocate that their 
holdings, whether consisting of town or city property, 
should be taxed double. 

The general statistics presented in this volume will ere 



MISRULE TERMINATED. 333 

this have convinced the reader that the period of govern- 
mental empiricism and misrule has disappeared, and that 
the colonies have at length entered on a career of pros- 
perity the future of which will disappoint the fears of 
the most incredulous, and surpass the expectations of the 

most hopeful. 

NOTE. 

A period of severe financial depression was experienced in Victoria during 
last winter, arising from over speculation in trading and mining. Certain 
colonial politicians have taken occasion to ascribe this panic to the free-port 
system, and have for the moment succeeded in carrying with them in this 
view many farmers and mechanics, who not unnaturally desire protection for 
their several industries. But the wealthier classes, though in the minority, 
as electoral voters, are of a very different opinion. It is reported that Go- 
vernor Kennedy — desiring, properly enough, to he supported in a manner 
more befitting the Representative of Her Majesty than he has been hitherto 
— sanctions the proposal in order to swell the revenue of the island by the 
imposition of a tariff. But to adopt this expedient would inevitably arrest 
the progress of the colony. We have no industrial interest in Vancouver 
Island worth protecting, and if any impediment be thrown in the way of the 
free ingress of trade to Victoria, the chief source of local prosperity will 
be seriously injured. The trappings of Government, no doubt, have their 
advantage, provided they he not in advance of the extent and necessities of the 
settlement. But when out of proportion to the numbers and ability of the 
population, and when staple interests are sacrificed to sustain them, they 
must prove the opposite of beneficial. If free scope be given to the opera- 
tions of trade, the wealth of the city will be rapidly augmented and ex- 
pended by merchants through whose hands it passes, in the erection of 
costly warehouse "nd dwellings and in domestic luxuries. Employment 
will thus be given to every sort of handicraft in the colony, and commodities 
for the supply of the inhabitants will be obtainable at moderate prices. If 
agricultural and manufacturing interests be protected, as of the first con- 
sideration, the rate of living, generally, will be increased ; and while com- 
merce will consequently be checked, the former pursuits, which must for 
many years, in any case, be of secondary importance, will not be materially 
benefited. 

A recent mail brings intelligence of a change in the Customs tariff of 
British Columbia. With the design of encouraging direct shipments from 
foreign ports to New Westminster, an Act has been passed by which duties 
in this entrepot shall be henceforth leviable on the invoice value of goods 
at the place of shipment, instead of as formerly, on their value at JVew 
Westminster. 

An Act has also passed the Legislative Council of British Columbia, 
authorising an expor duty on gold. 



334 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

PROPOSED INTEROCEANIC RAILWAY EMIGRANT ROUTE AND 

TELEGRAPH — THEIR INFLUENCE UPON THE GROWTH OF 
THE COLONIES. 

"Westward, Ho ! — Trade with the East coveted by Western Nations from 
remotest Antiquity — The Tyrians, &c. — Alexander the Great — Antiochus 
— Mahomet — The Arabians— Effect of the Discovery of a Passage to 
India via the Cape of Good Hope — America found in the Search for the 
shortest Route to the East — Why has this Communication, so indus- 
triously sought, never been practically realised ? — Eastern Trade now to 
flow across to the American Side of the Pacific, and great Cities to grow 
up in its Track — The Americans preparing to receive and distribute 
Eastern Commerce by the Construction of an Inter-Oceanic Railway — 
Would such a Line on the British Side pay ? — It must prove the shortest 
possible Route to Australia and China as well as British Columbia — The 
political Utility of the Scheme — How transcendent its Influence upon 
Victoria — Most eligible Tract of Country for the proposed Railway — 
Singular natural Features of the great Valleys through which the Line 
would pass, favoring its Construction — Central Position of Red River 
Settlement — Road via St. Paul's — Alleged Difficulties in the Way of ex- 
tending the Line from Fort Garry to Canada — Railway Enterprise not 
likely to take immediate Effect— Emigrant Route imperatively demanded — 
The Course it should take from Lake Superior — How are the territorial 
Rights of the Hudson's Bay Company to be adjusted ? — Dr. Rae and the 
Telegraph — Climate and Soil of the Country between Canada and British 
Columbia — The Adaptability of Red River and Saskatchewan for Colo- 
nisation — The Gold Discoveries East of the Rocky Mountains and their 
Attractions— Passes in the Range — Lord Milton's Journey — Distances 
from Lake Superior to Cariboo — Strides of Russia in opening up Water 
and Telegraphic Communication between the Amoor River, Sitka, and 
St. Petersburg — Designs of Napoleon III. in Relation to Mexico and 
Trade in the Pacific — By whom is the desired Route to be formed ? — 
Note. 

The prospects and advantages of Victoria as a convenient 
depot for storing British and French goods intended for 




London. Longman & Co. 



RAILWAY SCHEME SLOW BUT SURE. 335 

distribution throughout countries on the American shores 
of the Pacific, have already been pointed out. The free- 
port system adopted in that city, taken in connection with 
our exports of timber and fish, which meet with a pro- 
fitable and increasing market in China, give Victoria 
unrivalled facilities for ultimately becoming also a vast 
emporium for Eastern commerce. The day is approach- 
ing when the choice products of China, Japan, and India 
will be discharged at our wharves for trans-shipment not 
only to the order of buyers in the adjoining American, 
Mexican, and other States on the coast, but to the consign- 
ment of merchants in the cities of Canada, the Northern 
United States touching the boundary of British North 
America, and in those future centres of population whose 
industry will yet enliven and reclaim the trackless but 
fertile solitudes lying between the Kocky Mountains and 
Lake Huron. 

Does the reader enquire by what mode of transit this 
merchandise is to be conveyed to those destinations in the 
interior, on the frontier, and on the banks of the St. Lau- 
rence? I reply, by a British North American railway 
which shall unite the Atlantic with the Pacific. I have 
ceased to be sanguine respecting the speedy accomplish- 
ment of this project under the parsimonious policy pur- 
sued by the Home Government in reference to the 
colonies, and considering the indifference with which they 
are regarded by the British public generally. But the 
tide of human migration that has since the creation of our 
race been rolling westward from Asia, still advances rest- 
lessly toward the lands of the setting sun, undeterred by 
the turbulent waters of the Atlantic or the lonely wilds of 
the great American continent. As certainly as Europe, 
once the abode of barbarians, has become densely studded 
with the homes of civilisation, so will the expanse of 



336 TRADE WITH THE EAST. 

prairie and forest on British soil, extending from ocean to 
ocean, become cheerful with the sound of well-remune- 
rated industry, and beautiful with the ornaments of 
cultivation. The multiplying commercial necessities of 
this multitude, whose watch ward is ' Westward, ho ! ' will 
unavoidably create the great machinery of transit to 
which I have referred. 

As time progresses, and the relation of England to 
eastern countries grows still more intimate, the expe- 
diency of making an interoceanic railway to run the 
entire distance through British America will be more and 
more felt both on commercial and political grounds. 

Control of trade with the East has been coveted as a 
prime source of wealth by western nations from the 
remotest antiquity. Mercantile communities engaged, 
from age to age in carrying eastern ■ freight, have in- 
variably prospered from the undertaking, and the grandest 
cities of ancient and modern times have owed much of 
their splendour to the fact of this rich traffic passing 
through them. In the degree in which that all-absorbing 
trade was at any time diverted from an accustomed 
channel, the commercial centres that had previously re- 
ceived an impulse from it declined. The Tyrians, Greeks, 
Eomans, Saracens, Venetians, Portuguese, Dutch, and 
English afford monumental proof of these statements. 

Alexander the Great, directly he had obtained a foot- 
ing in India, set about opening up communication between 
that country and his western possessions. Failing to 
discover a suitable overland route, he sent a ileet down the 
Indus to explore the passage thence to the mouth of the 
Euphrates. Not satisfied with the route via the valley of 
the latter river, he resolved to bring the wealth of India 
to Europe by the Eed Sea and the Nile. He fixed on 
the western mouth of that stream as the site of the city 



ANCIENT COMMERCE WITH MECCA. 337 

which was to perpetuate the memory of his name and his 
commercial sagacity. But in proportion as Alexandria 
flourished, Petra, Palmyra, Tyre, and Constantinople de- 
cayed. 

Antiochus the Great, Tamerlane, and Nadir Shah, all 
sought, like the mighty general referred to, to enrich 
their kingdoms by encouraging commerce with India and 
the countries beyond ; and what privileges they could not 
secure from eastern nations by request, they endeavoured 
to extort by force of arms.* 

Mahomet — himself once an experienced and a shrewd 
merchant — permitted his followers to associate objects of 
commerce with their religious pilgrimages to Mecca ; and 
it is difficult to say how much they were indebted to this 
cause for the astonishing spread of their faith in the 
eastern parts of Asia. Large caravans of pilgrims from 
the distant regions of the East, as well as from the shores 
of the Atlantic, travelled to Mecca, and the hope of dis- 
posing of their wares profitably at that religious mart 
gave a considerable impulse to commerce by sea and 
land. In the holy city were exposed for sale the chintzes 
and muslins of Bengal, the shawls of Cashmere, the spices 

* In the Persian era extensive commerce was carried on between the 
Greek cities on the Black Sea and all the interior of Sythia, north and east 
from Siberia to India. Different caravan routes were used, and cities grew 
up at both ends of these routes, and large depots were established on the way . . . 
The Hindoos in their most ancient works are represented as a commercial 
people. Their commodities were known in the markets of Phoenicia, 
Carthage, Egypt, and Babylon. In the Arabian Nights and in the Rama- 
yaw, merchants appear as having travelled from one place to another all 
over the world, and as men possessed of liberal views, high rank, and of the 
highest intelligence. . . . A regular chain of mercantile nations extended at 
a very remote day from China to India and to the Black Sea, and to the 
countries on the Mediterranean, and also to Arabia and Egypt, through the 
cities of the Indus, the Euphrates, and the Red Sea. Gold was so plentiful 
that iron was more precious. Their armour and their horses' bridle-bits 
were plated with it, as also many of their vessels. — Trade and Letters, by 
Dr. W. A. Scott, p. 150. 

Z 



338 BASSORAH — CONSTANTINOPLE AND CHINA. 

of Malabar, the diamonds of Golconda, the pearls of 
Kilcare, the cinnamon of Ceylon, the nutmegs and cloves 
of the Moluccas, and the silks of China. The transactions 
at the annual fair in Mecca were for many years the 
largest in the world. 

The Arabians, under Caliph Omar, witnessed a remark- 
able improvement in their condition from the potent 
cause now under consideration. From being barbarian 
hordes, violent robbers, ' dwellers in tents,' and despisers 
of civilisation, they became patrons of art, contributors to 
science and literature, and founders of cities. So highly 
did they come to value mercantile relations with the East, 
that they built Bassorah to protect their monopoly of 
eastern trade ; and it is significant that their overwhelm- 
ing power as conquerors and as propagators of religion 
was contemporaneous with their being the exclusive car- 
riers between China and Europe. Their trade was uni- 
versal in the Indian Archipelago, and their vessels plied 
from the Persian Gulf and the Eed Sea to all the ports of 
China. So numerous were the Saracens at one period in 
Canton that the emperor granted his sanction to their 
having a cadi of their own religion. Trade then flowed 
from the north-west of China to Constantinople, and in- 
fused into that city new life. So marked was the in- 
fluence thus exerted on Constantinople that Eobertson 
asserts that the decline of the Eoman empire, of which it 
was then the capital, was retarded in consequence. 

When the trade of India was attracted by the Persian 
Gulf, the Euphrates, and the Syrian desert, ' Tadmor in 
the Wilderness ' burst into splendour like a gigantic tro- 
pical blossom. In presence of great and ambitious neigh- 
bours, it long maintained its prosperity, and even rivalled 
' the eternal city.' Egypt, Mesopotamia, and a large 
section of Asia Minor, were subdued by its arms, and its 



THE TRADE OF INDIA — ITS COURSE. 339 

renowned Queen Zenobia did not shrink from contesting 
dominion with a great Eoman emperor. When, subse- 
quently, eastern commerce was diverted from the Persian 
to the Arabian Gulf, the sun of Babylon, Bassorah, 
Palmyra, and Tyre went down, and Petra arose as the 
medium of supplying Europe with Oriental merchandise, 
and subsequently Alexandria became renowned in the 
same capacity. The glory of Venice, ' the bride of the 
sea ; ' of Genoa, ' the superb, the city of palaces ; ' of 
Florence, the metropolis of the arts ; of Bruges, the great 
distributing centre of eastern goods for western Europe 
under the Hanseatic league ; of Antwerp, Lisbon, and 
London, — the glory, I repeat, of all these cities, whether 
as seats of commerce, manufactures, • learning, or art, is 
derived, in various degrees, from their being mouths to 
receive Oriental freight for the supply of countries by 
which they were respectively surrounded. 

The discovery of a path to India by the Cape of Good 
Hope led to a revolution, not only in the route between 
Europe and the eastern parts of Asia, but also in what is 
known as the political ' balance of power.' The golden 
tide now swept the shores of Portugal, and by sharing 
the boon that had enriched so many other peoples, she 
swelled into the proportions of a commercial empire, 
vying in opulence, political wisdom, and energy with the 
proudest nations of that time. 

The next great historical event bearing upon commerce 
with the East, and the issues of which are destined to be 
fully realised only on the Pacific shores of the western 
world, was the discovery of America. The hope that 
stimulated the ambition and roused the energy of 
Columbus, in undertaking that first exploratory voyage 
westward, was that across the untracked waters of the 
Atlantic, ' lay the true, the shortest, and the best way to the 

z2 



340 OBJECT OF THE SEAECH FOE THE 

riches of the EasV All the earlier expeditions of dis- 
covery from Europe to the shores of the western con- 
tinent had their origin in this idea. It was in prosecuting 
the search of a passage to the East that the seaboard of 
America came to be more accurately known. It was 
while exploring for a maritime route to China that John 
Cabot, in the reign of Henry VII., discovered the coast of 
Newfoundland and afterwards entered the St. Laurence. 

The thought that gave inspiration to all the luckless 
attempts that have been made by England, during the last 
seventy years, to find a north-west passage, was that traffic 
with the East might be facilitated. At length the enterprise 
has been demonstrated to be impossible. It has been well 
said that, in passing through the icy portals of the Arctic 
$ea in 1850-1851, M'Clure, as far as mercantile interests 
were concerned, closed the gates behind him.* 

In these heroic adventures the instinct and aspiration 
of ages were not altogether mistaken. 

America is geographically or by nature — that is, in other 
words, is in the order of creation — a connecting link between 
the continents of Europe and Asia, and not a monstrous barrier 
between them. It lies in the track of their nearest and best 
connection, and this fact needs only to be fully recognised to 
render it in practice what it unquestionably is in the essential 
points of distance and direction. 

It may be asked, if this be so, how can it be explained that 
this communication, always thus earnestly longed for and in- 
dustriously sought, has never yet been made a practical reality ? 
Chiefly, I should answer, because that communication was never 
sought in the way in which it does exist, and because it is not 
to be found — it is not there — in the shape in which it has nearly 
always been sought. A maritime passage has been the object 
of all preceding ages, and, practically and generally speaking, 

* Mr. Pemberton states that Arctic expeditions from 1800 to 1845 alone 
cost -England upwards of 1,000,000?. sterling. 



NORTH-WEST PASSAGE — WHY A FAILURE ? 341 

there is none ; but what there is — a passage across the continent 
by rivers, lakes, and land — has become of greater value than could 
have ever been a merely maritime passage. Two irresistible 
agents are at work bringing to light the incalculable value of 
that conformation so long deemed an insuperable obstacle. 

They have changed the requirements for the attainment of 
the objects of the north-west passage, and have disclosed the 
inexhaustible latent wealth of a land instead of a maritime 
passage. Eailroads and the electric telegraph will cause new 
commerce and new activity to spring up at every step along the 
distance. ... It is too late, alas ! too late, to lament over the 
waste of life, of money, and of energy, that have been expended 
in repeated Arctic voyages, which were impossible of success, so 
far as related to any passage of practical use ; but they serve to 
illustrate very forcibly the predominance of the ideas of maritime 
effort and of maritime connection with the Pacific. . . . The 
lavish and continued expenditure thus incurred appears in 
stinking contrast to the rigid refusal simultaneously main- 
. tained of all aid to the prosecution of the same work and of 
the same object in its practicable form by land; and this 
refusal, amounting almost to opposition, has extended from 
the days of M'Kenzie, the first great discoverer of both the 
northern and western coasts of the continent, and is not yet 
perfectly dispelled* 

It has been shown how the transportation of eastern 
commodities in a westerly direction in by-gone ages, by 
various routes, affected successively the growth of cities 
that served as mediums of this commerce. By a similar 
process great commercial centres are destined to spring 
up on the American coast of the Pacific. The young and 
thriving populations that swarm with such fabulous rapi- 
dity on the western shores of the American continent will 
soon be found emulating the zeal and enterprise of ancient 
nations in regard to commerce with the East ; and as that 

* Paper read on ' Central British North America/ by Col. Synge, R.E., 
F.B.G.S., July 21, 1864, before the British North American Association. 



342 TRADE WITH THE PACIFIC THEOUGH B. N. AMERICA. 

traffic has in the past been wafted westward to Europe, it 
is now beginning to flow eastward for transmission over 
the American continent. That nation, therefore, which 
possesses the greatest topographical facilities for uniting 
the two oceans by a railway, and is forward in improving 
them, will unquestionably become master of the situation. 
The fear, however, cannot be altogether repressed that, 
notwithstanding the obvious physical advantages presented 
by our territory for the execution of this great and desir- 
able work, those advantages may be nullified by our national 
indifference about the matter, and our designs forestalled 
by our more progressive neighbours. Would that the 
cogent appeal of Lord Bury, some years since (a noble- 
man who has no superior in the British Legislature in 
acquaintance with this subject), were duly pondered by 
the Government and the people : — 

Our trade in the Pacific Ocean with China and with India must 
ultimately be carried on through our North American possessions; 
at any rate, our political and commercial supremacy will have 
utterly departed from us if we neglect that very great and im- 
portant consideration, and if we fail to carry out to its fullest 
extent the physical advantages which the country offers to us, 
and which we have only to stretch out our hands to take ad- 
vantage of. 

The House of Bepresentatives at Washington, several 
years ago, as is well known, passed a Bill for the comple- 
tion of an iron road from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
States. The line, already as far west as Atchison in 
Missouri, is steadily extending to California, and another 
line from the proposed terminus in that State is advancing 
to meet it.* The peculiar natural obstacles that oppose 
the construction of an interoceanic railway through 

* The House of [Representatives at Washington passed a Bill in February 
last, granting a subsidy to a line of steamers about to be established for 
carrying mails from San Francisco to China. 



WOULD A KAILWAY PAY? 343 

American territory, as contrasted with the much fewer 
trials of engineering skill to be met with on the British 
side, furnish an opportunity of our yet being first, if we 
will, to complete this momentous enterprise, even at the 
eleventh hour. Ever since the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia, the ablest military engineers of the United States 
have been engaged in searching for a practicable outlet in 
the Eocky Mountains ; but not ,a single pass has been 
detected for 1,000 miles south of the 49th parallel less 
than 6,000 feet high. In 1855, Mr. Jefferson Davis, 
then Secretary of War, stated that ' the only practicable 
route for railway communication between the Atlantic 
and Pacific Coasts of North America is through the Hud- 
son's Bay territory, on account of the desert land from 
the north boundary of the United States to the extreme 
south of Texas.' In 1858, the Governor of Minnesota also 
admitted that ' a great interoceanic communication is 
more likely to be constructed through the Saskatchewan 
basin than across the American desert — the cretaceous 
and comparatively rainless areas of the southern latitudes 
within the territories of the United States.' 

But the practical enquiry is, Would the proposed work 
be satisfactory as an investment ? There can be no doubt 
that the outlay would be large, but it is believed that the 
amount of direct traffic which would be created between 
Australia, China, India, Japan, and England, by a railway 
from Halifax to the Gulf of Georgia, would soon more 
than cover interest upon the capital expended. The dis- 
tance between Liverpool and Vancouver Island, which, via 
Panama, is over 9,000 miles, would be reduced by the 
railway to 5,650. There would also be a saving of 
twenty-two days in this passage as compared with the 
quickest existing route. If the intended railway were 
connected with a line of steamers plying between Victoria 



344 TO HONG-KONG AND AUSTRALIA VIA VICTORIA. 

(V. I.), Sydney, and New Zealand, mails, quick freight, 
and cabin passengers to and from our colonies in the 
southern hemisphere would, for the most part, be secured 
for this route. Vancouver Island is nearer to Sydney 
than Panama is by 900 miles, and, with the exception of 
the proposed route by a trans- American railway, the latter 
is the most expeditious that has yet been found. But with 
this interoceanic communication, the time to New Zealand 
would be reduced to forty- two, and to Sydney to forty- 
seven days, being at least ten days less than by steam from 
England via Panama. 

The following table will illustrate the distance and time 
in the Vancouver Island route from England to Hong- 
Kong, as contrasted with the present mail route via the 
Isthmus of Suez : — 

Distance overland by Suez from Southampton to 

Hong-Kong 9,467 miles— 50-60 days. 

Distance from South- 
ampton to Halifax 2,532 miles — 9 days' steam. 

Distance from Halifax 

to Vancouver Island 2,536 „ 6 „ rail. 

Distance from Van- 
couver Island to 
Hong-Kong . 6,053 „ 21 „ steam. 

i 11,121 miles— 36 days. 

As compared with routes now used between England, 
China, and Australia, this one possesses the advantage of 
shortening the time spent at sea, as well as of being 
actually the quickest. A great proportion of passengers 
to those parts of the globe, who now travel by Suez or the 
Cape of Good Hope, might be expected to select in pre- 
ference the railway through British North America, as 
less trying to the constitution, as well as more expeditious 
than the routes now in use. In these busy days, when 
the saying 'Time is money' is more remarkably exempli- 
fied than ever, this proposition in reference to our postal 



POLITICAL UTILITY OF THE TRANS-AMERICAN ROUTE. 345 

relations and passenger communications with the countries 
above mentioned cannot very much longer, escape the 
attention of political economists and men of business. 

Another noteworthy circumstance may be stated as 
placing the success of the project here advocated beyond 
dispute. The present passage by steamer from New York 
to San Francisco extends over twenty-four days ; by the 
contemplated iron road, with regular steam communica- 
tion between Victoria and San Francisco, the passage 
would be reduced to thirteen days. A considerable part 
of the teeming multitudes that with freight and treasure 
are continually in transit between California and the 
Atlantic States would, in that case, be induced to prefer 
a mode of conveyance which should combine speed and 
exemption from the inconveniences of a tedious voyage 
through the tropics.* 

But the importance of this railroad scheme is enhanced 
when its political utility is considered. British Columbia 
and Vancouver Island constitute the western terminus of 
a future belt of settlements that shall stretch eventually 
from ocean to ocean ; and military emergencies may 
occur, if not in the present, in some coming generation, 
when necessity for such a great highway to our eastern 
possessions, wholly through British territory, may be 
strongly felt. Happily, Great Britain lives at present on 
terms of amity with the rest of the civilised world. Can 
we be certain, however, that in the extension of French 
power eastward, British and French interests will never 
come in collision ? Is it impossible to predict what may 
be the issue of the noiseless but real self-aggrandising 
policy of France in seeking fresh acquisitions of territory 

* If our railway be not made within seven years, this latter remark will 
cease to have force. In spite of physical difficulties, I believe the Americans 
will have theirs finished in that period. 



346 TRUE NORTH WEST PASSAGE. 

in the Mediterranean, and in expending so vast an amount 
upon the formation of the canal across the Isthmus of 
Suez ? In the event of war with that or any other 
European Power interrupting the existing overland passage 
from England by the Eed Sea, it is almost needless to 
remark that our Indian empire would be placed in immi- 
nent jeopardy. Should we, under these circumstances, 
be destitute of those facilities for the expeditious transport 
of troops and military stores which the proposed line of 
railway could alone adequately supply, actum est would 
be aptly descriptive of all we hold dear in the East. 

On the supposition of this true north-west passage being 
made, how transcendent the prospects of Victoria ! Our 
geographical position and surrounding resources in every 
variety are of themselves advantages sufficient to ensure 
for us a great future. But with the increased impetus to 
trade and commerce that such a railway would give, how 
immensely would that progress be accelerated, and how 
much more brilliant would that future become! Our 
central situation in relation to extensive lines of convey- 
ance southward and eastward, by land and by sea, would 
at once elevate our port into an emporium for the supply 
of British and eastern merchandise to all the countries on 
the coast, as well as a point of transit for goods and 
passengers bound to and from England and the East. 
Apropos of this subject, an able article in a recent number 
of the ' Money Market Be view' contains the following : — 

That under these circumstances the railway will he made, 
sooner or later, there can be no doubt. . . . With interests so 
numerous, so vast, and with such means at command, the diffi- 
culty of constructing this Hudson's Bay Eailway ought to assume 
the most moderate proportions. Grreat Britain, Europe, Canada, 
the States of America, British Columbia, New Zealand, Austra- 
lia, the Hudson's Bay Compan}^ and the International Financial 
Society, all want the railway, and would all gain by the railway ; 



ELIGIBLE TRACT OF COUNTRY. 347 

and it would be amazing if, with such interests and such re- 
sources, it could not be made, and be made properly. In India, 
State guarantees have been given, and are promised upon rail- 
way capital sufficient to construct this line ten times over ; and 
it is a question whether any one Indian railway is more useful 
than this even for State purposes. 

In introducing the question of the most eligible tract of 
country for laying down the proposed line of railway, it 
may be mentioned generally that the principle known as 
4 great circle sailing,' by which distance is shortened in 
long voyages, may be advantageously followed in travel- 
ling westward across the American continent. Commu- 
nication with the East is made shorter and shorter the 
farther north its line of route is removed. The applica- 
tion of a string to the measurement of the distance between 
two places on a geographical globe will at once elucidate 
the system of sailing or travelling on ' the spherical line 
of shortest distance.' The greatest breadth of the western 
continent happening to lie in British North American ter- 
ritory, here, by an apparent paradox, but nevertheless on 
the principle just adverted to — universally acknowledged 
in practical navigation — we have the shortest possible 
route from England to the East. It is an interesting cir- 
cumstance that where we desired the connection between 
eastern Asia and western Europe, should be formed through 
the American continent, there ' almost every possible faci- 
lity for its formation is lavishly afforded. ' 

Here, where the climate is the most healthful of the continent, 
within territories still acknowledging the flag of England, still 
forming part of the empire, the most interested of any nation 
in quick and in secure communication with the East, and in 
whatever tends to advance the cause of civilisation and of com- 
merce ; here Nature has marked out the line across the continent, 
and has abundantly combined every facility for its completion.* 
* Paper by Col. Synge, p. 7. 



348 SINGULAR FACT IN AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY. 

The great water systems of this region are an instructive 
object of study, and, as connected with the topic under 
consideration, have never received the attention they de- 
serve. The direction in which the streams of a country 
flow usually determine the character it will assume. 

Bivers are the hest pioneers of civilisation. In countries 
where they freeze, they form the best of winter roads ; and 
where they are navigable, they decide the course and direction 
of commerce : they do this even in the era of railroads. . . . 
As a rule, a railroad admits nowhere of more easy construction 
than along the banks or in the direction of a navigable stream, 
whereas to execute a line across the direction of many water- 
courses is, in every sense, a very cross-grained and expensive 
operation. 

Now it is a singular fact in the geography of America 
that in the direction of the St. Laurence, and there only, 
the rivers of America take a direction east and west The 
Mississippi and the Missouri, having their sources close to 
the British frontier, disembogue into the Gulf of Mexico. 
The M'Kenzie, after winding its way through nearly six- 
teen parallels of latitude, discharges into the Arctic Sea. 
On the other hand, in that track which possesses the 
climate most favourable for an overland route — as if by 
special design of a Supreme Power — the waters of the St. 
Laurence penetrate well nigh half way across the country. 

The central water system is perhaps the most curious of any 
on the continent. It combines the characteristics of the others, 
and embraces both the north and south, the east and west direc- 
tions. Type and figure of the country which it fertilises, it 
seems to stretch out its friendly arms in every direction to greet 
the advance of civilisation, and to facilitate intercourse in every 
direction, and to enable a vast country to be opened almost 
without an effort. It connects with the St. Laurence system 
by the chain of lakes and rivers that finally merge in the 
Winnipeg Eiver. ... By the various branches of the Saskat- 



QUICKEST KOUTE ACROSS. 349 

chewan, it penetrates into the heart of the Eocky Mountains, 
and indicates the practicable passes through that otherwise stern 
barrier, and, by the Assiniboine and Qu'Appelle Rivers, it tra- 
verses the vast central plain in nearly a straight line.* 

Let us suppose we are journeying from east to west, 
and want to go by the quickest route across the American 
continent : — 

Whether our place of starting be Europe, the West Coast of 
Africa, the West Indies, or the Eastern Coast of the North 
American Continent — if our goal be the Pacific or the East, 
our best route, nay almost our only one, is across the great 
plain of central British America. There is, in fact, the point 
of junction where all the traffic of the continent from the South, 
from the East, and even from the North, most naturally unites, 
if its destination be the yet further West, until that word is lost 
in its aim and goal, the East or the Antipodes. We are hemmed 
in to this position. We cannot alter the earth's spheroidity ; 
we cannot change relative distances ; we cannot do away with 
the physical conformation of the earth. We cannot, though 
we may nearly double the distance, get rid of the great arid and 
rainless desert, in the territory of the adjoining republic. There 
we can find no rivers coursing in any direction to aid us. We 
cannot — at least, for any practical purpose — we cannot hope to 
cross over that long continuation of barren and mountainous 
land ; we cannot travel the mountains when they offer no faci- 
lities to our hand. Can it be uneconomic to open a country 
having this generality of access, and yet holding such a mono- 
poly of advantage? Consider for a moment. Adjoining are 
the new territories of the United States, ready to pour in their 
contributions and their wealth. Whether from Minnesota by 
the Red River or by the Mississippi from the States of the 
South, and from any point, in fact, between New Orleans and 
the northern extremity of Maine from Canada, or from the Grulf 
Provinces ; even if we look to the far North, if the utmost ab- 
breviation of distance has been the object, and the far East the 
goal, by taking advantage of the proper season we may shorten 

* Paper by Col. Synge, p. 9. 



350 FORT GARRY VIA ST. PAUL'S. 

the distance from Europe 1,500 miles by proceeding across 
Hudson's Bay. But from wherever we may come, we necessarily 
unite in that great stream of traffic that, bound for the Pacific 
or the East, meets on the plains of the Red River or the Sas- 
katchewan. It is a simple fact, but one that must exert an 
irresistible force in favour of this route to the Pacific, that it 
thus unites midway across the continent all the innumerable and 
widely-divergent lines of railway and of lake and river naviga- 
tion that cover the eastern portion of the continent, and radiate 
over its every part. Here they all centre, here they all unite.* 

It is highly probable that in consequence of the district 
of country from the eastern shores of Lake Huron to Eed 
Eiver being as yet unpopulated, and access to the latter 
settlement being already so convenient through Minnesota, 
the railway when commenced will be first opened from 
Fort Garry, and that the space intervening between Eed 
Eiver and the present western terminus of the Grand 
Trunk will be completed as settlement advances. In 
anticipation of this being the order of events, the inha- 
bitants of Minnesota are pushing on a line to connect with 
the proposed railway to the Pacific on British soil. 

Fort Garry, it is well known, is the chief trading post 
of the Hudson's Bay Company in their territory. As the 
crow flies it is 550 miles from St. Paul's (Min.), or about 
650 miles by the regular route. The railway projected on 
the American side is to run from St. Paul's via Pembina. 
The road has been surveyed as far as Crow Wing, the 
head of navigation on the Mississippi, 150 miles above 
St. Paul's. Eight miles of it, from St. Paul's to St. Anthony, 
are in operation, and the track is laid many miles farther. 
It is completed, I believe, to Anoka, 32 miles from St. 
Paul's. It is graded to St. Cloud, 75 miles from that city; 
and this section of the track is in course of being laid. 
The directors hope to reach Crow Wing some time in 

* Paper, p. 12. 



DIFFICULTIES VIA CANADA TO KED RIVER. 351 

1866. The road is known as the ' St. Paul's and Pacific 
Eailway,' and is being constructed, as has been stated, 
with the view of securing a connection with the British 
line, which, judging by present appearances, will be of 
tardier realisation than our enterprising neighbours think 
for. 

From Crow Wing it is intended that the route shall 
pass by Otter Tail Lake to the junction of the Shayennai* 
Eiver with the Eed Eiver on the north. A ' city ' called 
George Town has been laid out at this point, but its pro- 
gress has been temporarily interrupted by Indian troubles. 
The road will follow the west bank of Eed Eiver to Pem- 
bina, and thence down the stream to Fort Garry. From 
that point the valley of the Assiniboine and the ' Divide ' 
of the Saskatchewan will be traversed. The pass chosen 
in the Eocky Mountains will probably be either the 
Athabasca or the Myette. 

The chief difficulty alleged to stand in the way of 
extending a railway from Eed Eiver to Canada is the 
rocky nature of the north shore of Lake Superior. It is 
admitted that the portion of country close to the shore 
presents a rugged and barren appearance. But gentlemen 
connected with the lumber trade, who have penetrated 
backward into the interior and westward from Lake 
Temiskaminque, concur in testifying that a fine level 
hardwood country is found within easy distance well 
suited for a railway track. 

While firmly convinced that the railway scheme must 
become a reality, it were Utopian to expect that it should 
take effect soon, while the British public are so sceptical 
as to its utility, and the region to be crossed by it is so 
sparsely populated. But, for the purpose of opening up 
the rich lands of the interior, and establishing direct 
communication between the parent country and our north 



352 EMIGRANT ROUTE URGENT. 

Pacific ' colonies, an emigrant route is imperatively de- 
manded, and is as practicable as it is necessary. Several 
lines are available to Eed Eiver, beyond which the course 
is plain. 

The present communication with Fort Garry is by La 
Crosse, Wisconsin, the north-west terminus of railway 
transit in the United States, to St. Paul's ; 208 miles by 
•river ; thence by stage to George Town on the Eed Eiver, 
200 miles ; and from that point to Fort Garry, 480 miles 
by steamer — a total distance of 978 miles. The route 
from Toronto via Nipigon Bay and Lake of the Woods, 
1,050 miles. The entire distance from the same starting 
point via Detroit, Grand Haven, Milwaukee, La Crosse, 
St. Paul, and George Town, is 1,676 — there being a dif- 
ference in favour of the former route of 650 miles. 

From the most westerly British port on Lake Superior 
to Eed Eiver settlement the distance is about 370 miles, 
and much of this is navigable. 

From the lower end of the Lake of the Woods to the foot of 
Eainy Lake is navigable in one reach of 156 miles; thence 
through Eainy Lake, &c. there is a navigable reach of 77 miles 
(though some say there is a break making 44 and 33 miles) ; 
thence there are 28 miles making fine navigable reaches, the 
Winnipeg Eiver being nearly as large as the Ottawa. From the 
last 28 miles the distance is about 115 miles to Lake Superior. 
If the road were made through this tract the whole country 
would be easily accessible. There are navigable waters, how- 
ever, a great part of the last-named distance, though in smaller 
reaches. I have only given those on which steamers could be 
used whenever desirable.* 

But a route less circuitous and difficult than that by 
Winnipeg Eiver has been ascertained since the above 

* Eeport of Select Committee appointed by the Legislature of Canada to 
receive and collect evidence as to the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
1857, p. 20. 



FROM LAKE SUPERIOR TO LAKE OF THE WOODS. 353 

evidence was given. A line of about 90 miles in length, 
and of a nearly uniform level, lying partly over open 
prairie and partly through wooded country, leads from 
Fort Garry to the north-west angle of the Lake of the 
Woods. The soil at the eastern end of Lake Plat, which 
is part of the Lake of the Woods, is inferior, but improves 
toward the western extremity. The former lake is part 
of a chain of navigation, offering but a single impediment 
in 160 miles, which consists of a sudden descent of 22 feet 
in the river in a short distance. 

With the view of opening fully the country between 
Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, a variety of 
minor deviations in the route have been proposed, and 
among these a line between Nipigon Bay on Lake Superior 
and Fort Francis on Eainy Lake. A prominent settler at 
Eed Eiver gives the distance between these two points at 
105 miles of land transit, and 150 miles of water com- 
munication. The sum required for making roads on the 
portages between Lake Superior and Fort Garry has 
been variously estimated, according to the line proposed 
and the amount of improvement contemplated. Mr. 
M'D. Dawson, formerly head of the Woods and Forests 
branch of the Crown Land Department in Canada, and 
acknowledged to be one of the greatest authorities in 
that colony on all questions pertaining to Hudson's Bay 
territory (to whom I am indebted for a valuable inter- 
view on this subject), states that : — 

To make an excellent waggon-road clear through from a 
British port on Lake Superior to Fort Garry on Eed River — 
allowances for curvatures bringing the distance up to 400 miles 
— would take, say 95,000£. Such a road, at a cost of 24:01. per 
mile, would immediately transfer the trade from St. Paul's to 
Lake Superior ; would speedily pour a large population into the 
country, and would likewise become settled throughout its 

A A 



354 • new Hudson's bay company. 

entire length, with such occasional exceptions, no doubt, as 
usually occur in the average of road lines in the interior of 
Canada. . . . But it is not necessary to make even this outlay 
to attain the end desired. 260 miles are navigable on the 
route in three or, at most, four separate reach es^ the data for 
which I have taken from the actual survey made in 1826 under 
the Treaty of Ghent. . . . 25,0001. to 30,000Z. expended on the 
115 miles from Lake Superior to the first navigable reach 
referred to might at once be said to open up the country. 

In conversation with the Hon. George Brown, President 
of the Legislative Council of Canada, last autumn, that 
gentleman informed me that 10,000/., voted by the Colo- 
nial Parliament in the previous session, would assuredly be 
expended, without delay, in initiating the route through 
Canada to communicate with Eed Eiver.* 

Those anxious to see British Columbia and Vancouver 
Island colonised by emigrants from Great Britain hailed 
the reconstruction of the Hudson's Bay Company as likely 
to bring about a solution of the difficulties that had so 
long retarded the settlement of the interior, and to 
inaugurate a policy favourable to the realisation of hopes 
deferred respecting the formation of a highway from 
ocean to ocean. But the remarks of the governor of the 
company, Sir Edmund Head, at a meeting of the share- 
holders held on the 28th November last, are calculated 
to excite the enquiry whether the dependence we have 
been encouraged to place on the liberal promises of the 
company has any solid foundation. 

In reply to the question of a shareholder as to the 
intention of the directors in reference to the opening up 
of the territory east of the Eocky Mountains, Sir Edmund, 

* If Eed River and Saskatchewan could be at once erected into Crown 
colonies, and included in Mr. Brown's scheme of British North. American 
Confederation, an impulse would be given to the Emigrant Overland Route 
that would ensure its immediate accomplishment. 



THEIR INFLUENCE UPON COLONISATION. 355 

with less official reticence than might have been expected 
on such an occasion, said : — 

They (the company) would do all they could to open the 
territory, and to cause roads to be made on such teems as the 
company could afford, but it was not intended by them to 
sacrifice the fur trade. He ashed, Were the proprietors pre- 
pared to sacrifice that trade producing a certain income, and 
to go headlong into another as a speculation f * 

In the earlier part of the proceedings the governor said 
that — 

At the present moment the fur trade was not a failing trade ; 
on the contrary, the proceeds had been increasing for some little 
time back. The actual proceeds of the fur trade in 1861 amounted 
to 210,509^. 19s. 2d.; in 1862,to 216, 708J. 9s. 9d ; in 1863, to 
222,729^. 15s. 5cl. ; and in 1864, to 262,869Z. 4s. 4d (cheers). 
... At that moment they had every reason to think that the 
imports of the present year (not yet made up) would consider- 
ably exceed those of the last. They would probably be 
30,000£. or 40,000L above the imports of the last year in value. 

It is not unnatural that the company should determine 
to pursue that course which they deem most compatible 
with their own interests. Only let not the friends of 
British Columbia, and of the territory intervening between 
Canada and that colony, any longer flatter themselves 
that an association, the most thriving source of whose 
income consists of fur-trapping, will be so unselfish as, for 
public benefit, to ' kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.' 
The gratifying statistics of the last report submitted to the 
proprietors clearly indicate that the advance of civilisation 
west of Eed Eiver would more than ever prove antago- 
nistic to their staple interest. 

Dr. Eae was despatched by the directors last summer 
to find a suitable route for laying clown a line of tele- 

* The Morning Star, November 29, 1864. 

A A 2 



356 THEIR PROPOSED TELEGRAPH. 

graph from Bed River to the Pacific ; and at a dinner 
given in his honour in Victoria, he announced that the 
undertaking would be finished in less than two years. 
He also gave it as his opinion that no serious obstacle to 
the formation of an overland waggon-road existed ; but 
the sole object of his mission was to arrange for the erec- 
tion of the telegraph. This cannot fail to confer some 
advantage upon our colonies in the far West. I do the 
company no injustice, however, in expressing the sus- 
picion that, while this great work would appear to be 
prompted by a wish to reclaim the wilderness, it may 
really be designed for their own convenience. In seeming 
to conduce to the general good, the scheme may have the 
intended effect of simply keeping those interested in the 
extension of British North American colonisation in good 
humour. Still, looked at in the light of the course 
hitherto pursued by the company, the conclusion can 
with difficulty be resisted that the telegraph may but 
tend to strengthen the monopoly of the company, and 
keep the interior locked against the introduction of those 
facilities of emigrant transit essential to the speedy settle- 
ment of British Columbia and the sister colony. A 
telegraph is not the most urgent want of those colonies, 
important as it may be. They are already in communi- 
cation with the coast of the Atlantic by an uninterrupted 
telegraphic line from New York via San Francisco and 
Puget Sound ; * and if the well-being of our possessions 
in the Pacific, or of those east of the Eocky Mountains 



* Since writing the above, the subjoined letter has come to hand : — 

To James Gamble, Esq., San Francisco, Sept. 29, 1864. 

Supt. Cal. State Telegraph Co., Victoria. 

I am sorry to have to inform you that the submarine cable intended for 
the line to Vancouver Island and British Columbia lies at the bottom of the 
ocean, off Cape Horn. The ' Thebes ' foundered there last July. Two new 



WILL THEY ENCOURAGE A ROAD ? 357 

were a primary consideration with the company, they 
would have begun with making a road instead of a tele- 
graph. But the latter in their hands — and especially 
after the confession of Sir Edmund Head above-men- 
tioned — cannot be regarded as necessarily a precursor of 
the former. Our hope is that the negotiations now 
pending between the Company and the Imperial Govern- 
ment on the subject of their respective rights and privi- 
leges may disappoint our worst apprehensions. 

As misrepresentations respecting the soil and climate 
of Central British North America have been industriously 
circulated by certain parties interested in concealing the 
real character of the region, it is time to enquire whether 
that tract of country be fit for settlement. It was cus- 
tomary for the heads of the Hudson's Bay Company, for 
very obvious reasons, to promote the impression, till 
within the last ten years, that the 49th parallel of latitude 
was a sort of natural boundary between fertility and deso- 
lation on the western continent ; and when truth was at 
length to some extent disclosed on the matter, their state- 
ments were modified, but still leaned to the side of 
depreciating their territory as a place of settlement. Sir 
George Simpson, in his evidence before the Select Com- 
mittee of the House of Commons on the affairs of the 
company in 1857, declares that the ground behind the 

cables will be immediately ordered, so that we may reasonably calculate 
upon receiving at least one of them in time to lay next spring. Meantime 
you will please carry out my instructions to push forward the construction 
of the line to Victoria and New Westminster the same as if the cable had 
arrived safely. In the matter of the line to New Westminster, I advise you, 
if you find that route at all practicable, to run up from Seattle, on the east 
side of the Sound and Straits, so that a cable will not be indispensable to 
make that connection with a short cable across Fraser River, which can be 
supplied from this office. The line will be completed at the earliest day 
practicable. 

H. N. Cakpentee, President. 



358 REGION BETWEEN FORT WILLIAM AND FORT GARRY. 

immediate bank of Eainy Lake Eiver, between 48° and 
49° of latitude, was permanently frozen. Colonel Lefroy 
condemns both soil and climate of portions where agricul- 
ture is carried on with success. In the report of the 
meeting of the Hudson's Bay Company shareholders, from 
which I have already quoted, Mr. Dallas is made to say, 
that while in other respects the country in the proposed 
route on the eastern side of the Eocky Mountains is well 
adapted for settlement, ' the climate was most inhospitable, 
and the country was not habitable except by Indians, 
Esquimaux, or like people.' 

■ Now, with regard to the interval between Fort William 
on Lake Superior, and Fort Garry, which has been repre- 
sented as so barren and unfriendly to settlement, Colonel 
Synge (who has been occupied with the study of British 
North America for twenty years) asserts that — 

It comprises large and compact tracts of great fertility, and of 
extreme beauty. These vary from about 20,000 to 200,000 
acres in size. The strangely formidable character which has 
been given to the difficulties presented by this section of country 
has no doubt arisen from that having been asserted positively 
and absolutely which is only relatively and comparatively true. 
It does not present those marvellous facilities, and that entire 
absence of great engineering difficulties which, as far as I am 
aware, is to be met nowhere else on the whole surface of the 
earth to such an extent as on the prairies of the West. 

Sir G. Simpson and M'Kenzie both eulogise the quali- 
ties' of the valley of the Kamenis Toquoiah, and the soil 
is known to be good toward the western extremity of the 
Lake of the Woods. Much rich and beautifully- wooded 
land is found near where the road would pass on White 
Mouth and Eat Eivers. 

As to the adaptability of Eed Eiver for colonisation, it 
were superfluous to speak. Every one of the ten thousand 



AGRICULTURAL WEALTH OF RED RIVER. 359 

settlers in that neighbourhood is a witness to its uncom- 
mon agricultural wealth. For 400 miles up the Assini- 
boine, to its junction with Moose Eiver, there is nothing to 
be seen but prairie covered with long red grass. ' On the 
east, north, and south,' says Sir G. Simpson, ' there was 
not a mound or tree to vary the vast expanse of green 
sward ; while to the west were the gleaming bays of the 
Assiniboine, separated from each other by wooded points 
of considerable depth.' The yield of wheat in Eed Eiver, 
as compared with the adjacent States of America, will 
demonstrate the productiveness of the district. In Min- 
nesota it stands at 20 bushels to the acre ; Wisconsin, at 
14 ; Pennsylvania, at 15 ; Massachusetts, at 16 ; and Eed 
Eiver, at 40. The average weight in the latter settlement 
is from 64 to 67 lbs. per imperial bushel ; that of the best 
Illinois wheat is from 60 to 65 lbs. per bushel. 

No obstacle exists to navigation between Fort Garry 
and the single rapid in the Saskatchewan. Capt. Palliser 
found a valuable water communication between the South 
Saskatchewan and Eed Eiver. ' A good-sized boat,' says 
he, 'and even perhaps a small steamer, might descend 
from the South Saskatchewan, ascend the West Qui- 
Appelle Eiver, cross the Qui-Appelle lakes, and then 
descend the Qui-Appelle into Eed Eiver.' 

Wheat may be cultivated as far north as lat. 60°, and 
barley ripens in 62° on the M'Kenzie Eiver. 

M. Bourgeau, botanist to the Palliser Expedition, in a 
letter to Sir W. Hooker, writes thus in regard to the 
Saskatchewan district : — 

This district is much more adapted to the culture of the 
staple crops of temperate climates — wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c. 
— than one would have been inclined to believe from its high 
latitude. In effect, the few attempts at the culture of cereals 
already made in the vicinity of the Hudson's Bay Company's 
posts demonstrate, by their success, how easy it would be to 



360 FROM FORT GARRY TO SASKATCHEWAN. 

obtain products sufficiently abundant largely to remunerate the 
efforts of the agriculturist. The prairies offer natural pasturage 
as favourable for the maintenance of numerous herds as if they 
had been artificially created. The construction of houses for 
habitation and for pioneer development would involve but little 
expense, because in many parts of the country it would be easy 
to find clay for bricks, and more particularly near Battle Eiver. 
The other parts most favourable for cultivation would be in the 
neighbourhood, and also along the south of North Saskatchewan. 
In the latter district extend rich and vast prairies, interspersed 
with woods and forests, where thickwood plants furnish excellent 
pasturage for domestic animals.* 

Mr. Dallas, too, whose interest would not be likely to 
bias him in favour of the colonisation of the country, felt 
obliged, with his characteristic candour, to acknowledge 
at the meeting above referred to, that 4 the whole of the 
country was more or less eminently adapted for settle- 
ment, and was exceedingly healthy. About two years 
ago he rode through the country, and saw there horses 
and cattle as fat as any on the pastures of England, and 
those cattle spent the winter out, without a morsel of hay.' 
How this statement can be reconciled with what has been 
already quoted in regard to the inhospitable character of 
the region, it is difficult to imagine- Let us hope that the 
latter allusion in the report is inaccurate. But the re- 
sources of the Saskatchewan are not confined to agricul- 
ture. I believe the mineral deposits of the country to be 
boundless. A vast coal formation has been traced from 
the 49th parallel far beyond the 60 th, running north and 
south, parallel with the Eocky Mountains ; and as rich 
gold diggings have attracted throngs of miners to Pike's 
Peak and elsewhere on the east side of that mountain 
chain in American territory, so I am confident that large 
numbers will be induced, when communication with 

* Explorations by Captain Palliser, p. 250. 



GOLD MINES OF SASKATCHEWAN. 361 

Canada is opened, to mine on the Saskatchewan. I have 
been told by several persons who have crossed the conti- 
nent on the British side that they had ' prospected ' suc- 
cessfully for the precious metal on many streams. Already, 
in spite of defective means of transit, adventurous spirits 
are dropping into the auriferous locality. 

For the past two years the Saskatchewan mines have been 
worked with good results. Grold has been discovered all along 
that river, but not exclusively there. The Bow, Red Deer, 
Peace, and Athabasca Rivers have also been tested, and found 
to yield from $3 to $6 per day per man. Indeed, every stream 
leading from the Rocky Mountains contains gold in greater or 
less degree ; and this is what might be expected a priori. The 
ore is primarily in the mountains ; and there is no reason why 
it should not be as abundant on the eastern as on the western 
slope. The gold found on Fraser River was of a very fine grain 
near its mouth, but gradually became coarser as the mountains 
were approached, clearly showing that the gold must have been 
washed from the rocky ridge, and by wear and tear in its course 
to the ocean was made fine. The case is the same with the 
auriferous streams on the eastern slope. On the Saskatchewan, 
a few miles north of Edmonton, miners make easily from $6 to 
$10 per day, and the Red River c Nor'-Wester ' (newspaper) 
mentions one instance of a man making from $15 to $25 per 
day.* 

At no distant period the resistless influence of the dis- 
coveries east and west of the Bocky Mountains in British 
territory will tempt emigrants from Europe and the 
Atlantic provinces westward ; and ere many years pass 
over, emigration may set in, and settlements rise up on 
the banks of the streams connecting the western with the 
eastern parts of the continent, at a rate defying all the 
barriers that a monopolising association can set up, and 
surpassing the expectations of the most sanguine. 

A steamer above the rapid in the Saskatchewan, pre- 

* From the Canadian News for November, 1864. 



362 PASSES IN THE KOOKY MOUNTAINS. 

viously indicated, and a very short portage, will open the 
navigation of that river to Acton or Bocky Mountain 
House. 

We have seen that depressions in the passes of the 
mountains are much greater north of 49° lat. than on the 
American side. These passes are also so numerous and 
well distributed as to leave us at no loss in entering what- 
ever portion of British Columbia, from north to south, 
we may desire. 

The branch expedition into the Eocky Mountains . . . proved 
very satisfactory, and established the fact that several passes 
across these mountains are available for horses, and by which, 
with a reasonable outlay, a road could be made connecting the 
Kootanie and Columbia Valleys with the plains of the Saskat- 
chewan. These passes are four in number ; the Kananaskis * 
Pass, the Vermillion f Pass, the British Kootanie Pass, and the 
Kicking Horse Pass. All these passes traverse the watershed of 
the continent within British territory. Besides these, there are 
three lesser passes connecting the waters of a transverse water- 
shed, between the head waters of the Kootanie and those of the 
Columbia. A pass also was subsequently traversed by Dr. 
Hector between the head waters of the North and South Sas- 
katchewan. The passes between the Kootanie and Columbia 
Rivers are the Lake Pass and the Beaver Foot Pass, and that 
from the head waters of the North to those of the South Sas- 
katchewan is called the Little Fork Pass. ... Of all the passes 
traversed by our expedition, the most favourable and inexpensive, 
to render available for wheel conveyances, would appear to be 
the Vermillion Pass, as the ascent along it to the height of land 
is the most gradual of them all.J 

About three years after the explorations here recorded 
were made, another pass attracted attention as connecting 
to best advantage with the chief gold mines of British 

* Extreme height, 5,985 feet. f Extreme height, 4,944 feet. 

\ Palliser's Explorations in British North America, p. 14. 



THE LEATHER PASS. 363 

Columbia, in Cariboo. The ' Leather,' ' Myette,' or ' Jas- 
per ' Pass had formerly been used by the Hudson's Bay 
Company as a portage from the Athabasca River to the 
great artery of British Columbia. It was known as the 
' old Columbia trail,' but had long been abandoned on 
account of the frequent casualties which occurred in the 
descent of the Fraser from that point. It lies in lat. 54°. 
In '62 this pass was crossed by several parties, embracing 
more than 200 persons in all. One of these companies 
consisted of 146 men, 1 woman, and 3 children, with 130 
oxen and 70 horses. Viscount Milton and friends, whose 
adventures were narrated last November before the Eoyal 
Geographical Society, crossed in '63. 

From the lips of many of these immigrants have I been 
interested in listening to the account of their journey, all 
of them concurring in the practicability of this pass for 
road or railway. It exhibits the two important features 
of gradual ascent and the least altitude of any passes yet 
found, being 400 or 500 feet lower than the Vermillion, 
which stands next in respect to depression, and is 1,000 
feet lower than any of the other passes. The remark- 
able facilities of ascent in the Leather Pass are evident 
from the following facts : — Fort Edmonton, on the river 
Saskatchewan (in 113° 49' west long, and 53° 29' north 
lat.), is 2,728 feet above sea level. Jasper House is 400 
miles from Edmonton. To the height of the pass, 4,500 
feet above sea level, is from 100 to 150 miles more, with 
a further ascent of 822 feet in that distance. This gives 
a clear ascent of from 6 to 9 feet in a mile, or a mean 
clear ascent of from 3^ to o^feet in the whole distance from 
Fort Edmonton* 

There is no part of British Columbia that is not acces- 

* Col. Synge. 



364 EXPERIENCE OF VISCOUNT MILTON. 

sible by the aid of these passes. The Vermillion leads 
from the South Saskatchewan to the Columbia ; the Kama- 
naskis from the same branch of the former river to the 
Kootanie Eiver ; the Kicking Horse from the same river 
to the Columbia ; the M'Kenzie Pass from the Peace Eiver 
to the Fraser ; and the Leather into the Cariboo district. 
Viscount Milton and Mr. Cheadle, who crossed when 
the streams were greatly swollen, unitedly describe their 
experience in these words : — 

Finding that the season was too far advanced to allow of our 
crossing the mountains before winter, we travelled on as far as 
Fort Carlton, on the north branch of the Saskatchewan, and, 
turning almost due north for about seventy miles, built a rough 
log hut at a beautiful place called La Belle Prairie, and went 
into winter quarters. We spent our time in hunting and trap- 
ping, and served an apprenticeship in hardship and privation, 
most useful to us in our subsequent difficulties. When the thaw 
set in at the beginning of April, we again started westward along 
the North Saskatchewan by Fort Pitt to Edmonton. . . . Here 
we made our final preparations for crossing the mountains. . . . 
On the 3rd of June we left Edmonton with a train of twelve 
horses, six of them packed with our baggage, pemmican and 
flour. . . . From Lake St. Ann's, 50 miles beyond Edmonton, 
to Jasper House, at the foot of the mountains, the forest is 
almost unbroken. Having forded the Pembina Eiver, we 
reached the M'Leod on June 16. , . . After striking the Atha- 
basca River, we followed its right bank until, arriving opposite 
Jasper House, we were now fairly in the Rocky Mountains ; and 
high up a mountain side, whither the trail led us, we had one 
of the most magnificent views it was ever our fortune to behold. 
Hundreds of feet below rushed the torrent of the Athabasca, 
now swollen to its height, bearing along great pine trees like 
straws in the powerful current ; around us on every side huge 
snow-capped mountains towered up with strange fantastic peaks ; 
in the valley beneath, the little white building surrounded by 
a perfect garden of wild flowers of the most brilliant and varied 



KAILWAY THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS EASY. 365 

colours, edged along the mountain-slopes by the brightest green. 
Crossing the Athabasca by raft, we now followed the Myette, 
which stream we were compelled to traverse no less than six 
times. Swollen like the Athabasca, the waters raged and boiled 
round the great rocks and boulders which beset its bed. . . . 
Leaving the Myette, we came upon several small streams run- 
ning to the west, and thus learned that we had unconsciously 
passed the height of land, and shortly after struck the Fraser a 
little above its expansion into Moose Lake. . . . We reached 
Tete Jaunes' Cache, on the west side of the mountains, on July 
17 ; but although we had crossed the main ridge, we were still 
surrounded by snow-clad mountains, which stretched away as 
far as the eye could reach in every direction. . . . We now 
crossed the Fraser and struck almost due south, following the 
emigrants' trail of the preceding summer. . . . In six days after 
leaving the Cache we came to the junction of the two main 
branches of the North Thompson. 

From this description it will be seen that the 
passage of the Bocky Mountains is the only work of 
any moment that requires to be executed west of Fort 
Garry. Those soaring and snow-capped heights are no 
longer invested with terrors, and every one must be satis- 
fied that especially the Vermillion Pass, with a descent to 
the Kootanie Eiver of but 1 in 135, and the Leather Pass 
with an ascent equally imperceptible, could easily be 
rendered available for regular communication, since both 
have been traversed by waggons in their present roadless 
condition. Engineering skill has already overcome phy- 
sical obstacles of infinitely greater magnitude in cutting 
paths through the Alleghaines in the United States, the 
Soemmering heights in Austria, and the Bhore Ghauts in 
India. The railway from Kankan to the Deccan through 
the last-named mountains had to contend with an eleva- 
tion, in a very short distance, from a base 196 feet to an 
altitude 2,627 feet, with a gradient of 1 in 48. Twelve 



366 ' STRIDES OF EUSSIA ON THE PACIFIC. 

tunnels were formed equal to 2,535 yards ; also eight 
viaducts, eighteen bridges, and eighteen culverts, at a cost 
of 41,118Z. per mile, making a total of 597,222/.* 

The distance from Lake Superior to Cariboo is 1,874 
miles, and from Edmonton 694. From Jasper House to 
Tete Jaunes' Cache at the head of the Fraser is 144 miles, 
and thence to Cariboo about 150 miles. From Cariboo 
to the head of navigation connecting with the Gulf of 
Georgia the distance is 300 or 400 miles, according to the 
route adopted — if from Kichfielcl via Quesnelle mouth 
to Bentinck Arm or Bute Inlet it is shorter ; if via Ques- 
nelle mouth to Yale it is longer, f 

In comparison with the difficulties successfully grap- 
pled with by Eussia in opening internal communications 
through her sparsely populated and immensely more inhos- 
pitable territory, and in extending her trade with China 
through the interior of Asia — those attaching to our 
overland enterprise are of the most Lilliputian character. 
That Great Northern Power, whose aggressive policy was 
regarded by Napoleon I. with more alarm than that of any 
other single European country, has recently established 
herself in rapidly augmenting maritime strength on the 
banks of the Amoor Eiver, in the vicinity of China and 
Japan. She alone of all European nations has possessions 
extending in unbroken continuity from the Baltic to the 
Pacific, and all her energies are bent to the gigantic task 
of completing clear and easy transit from her Asiatic 
shores via Siberia to St. Petersburg. 

Eussia is active, moreover, in building a line of tele- 
graph over this route, which cannot now be far from the 
mouth of the Amoor. I heard of their having reached 
Irkoutsk nearly two years since. The American lines 

* Col. Synge. 

t The quickest of all these routes is decidedly the one by Bute Inlet. 



DESIGNS OF NAPOLEON IN MEXICO. 367 

have a representative in Eussia who has been specially en- 
gaged there for several years in securing certain privileges. 
From the Amoor the Kussian line will be extended with 
as much expedition as possible to Sitka, the port of the 
Eussian fur-hunting company in Eussian America. 

When visiting the manager of the American Tele- 
graphic Company, in Montreal, lately, he informed me 
that he had been called on that day by a gentleman who 
was about to proceed to the West Coast of America, under 
the direction of that company, for the purpose of survey- 
ing the route for the line which ere long is to connect 
Sitka with Victoria. Eussia has granted our go-a-head 
neighbours the exclusive right of way from the mouth of 
Sitka harbour, and the additional privilege, in perpetuity, 
of establishing posts at pleasure anywhere in Eussian 
territory.* 

I saw no less than five Eussian ships of war in Panama 
Bay, bound for the possessions of the Czar in the North 
Pacific, and, as a further proof of the importance he 
attaches to national interests in that part of world, a prince 
about the same time was sent as Governor of Sitka. 

Chevalier, too, in his recent volume on Mexico, helps 
us to unravel the secret of Napoleon Ill's conquest of 
that country. The erection of a barrier against the ap- 
plication of the Munro doctrine by the United States, and 
the development of the boundless resources of Mexico, are 
but subordinate acts in the great drama to be played 
there under French appointment. The acute eye of the 

* When this line has been carried from Sitka to Victoria, the latter will 
ultimately become a telegraphic centre as well as the meeting-point of many- 
lines of conveyance for freight and passengers. When the Atlantic cable is 
laid, and a telegraph put through from that ocean to the Pacific, in British 
territory, and when the Russian line shall have been completed, Victoria will 
be in communication with Western Europe from the east and from the west. 
That city is already, or very soon about to be, as has been stated, connected 
with the Atlantic seaboard by the line via Puget Sound and San Francisco. 



368 CLIMATE OF PROPOSED ROUTE. 

Emperor cannot fail to discern that the marvels of com- 
merce and civilisation by which so high a degree of lustre 
has been shed on the European coasts of the Atlantic are 
about to be repeated with probably tenfold greater bril- 
liance on the American shores of the Pacific. He has 
deeply pondered the history of eastern trade, now flow- 
ing eastward as in the past it has done only westward. 
He sees the imperative necessity of possessing an uninter- 
rupted route over soil of which he has absolute command. 
Mexico affords this desired facility, stretching as it does 
from ocean to ocean. A railway is in progress from Vera 
Cruz in the Gulf of Mexico, and now rapidly approaches the 
city of Mexico. Thence it is destined to be carried west- 
ward to Acapulco, the ancient port for Spanish trade with 
Manilla on the one hand and Spain on the other. From 
this centre he has resolved there shall be lines of French 
steamers plying to China, Japan, the Sandwich Islands, and 
the more fertile portions of Southern Polynesia. Will 
England, who through the ignorance and neglect of her 
former rulers has already thrown away much rich terri- 
tory on that North West coast, and who still has so much 
at stake in the Pacific, idly stand by and witness rival 
European Powers multiplying means of communication 
with that ocean and busily laying foundations of future 
empires ? will she be satisfied to follow that penny-wise 
policy which grudges expenditure in forming a British 
North American route that will at once bring ample 
financial compensation and bind her possessions all round 
the northern hemisphere in real unity ? 

As erroneous impressions have obtained in regard to 
the climate of the proposed emigrant route, I invite the 
attention of the reader to the observations on temperature, 
in the chapter on Agriculture in Vancouver Island, in con- 
nection with a few additional remarks now to be submitted 
on the subject. 



CLIMATE OF THE INTEKIOR. 369 

Western parts of Europe and Asia are warmer than 
are the eastern sections of those continents situated in 
the same parallels of latitude — .the west having an ocean 
to the windward of it,, moderating the prevailing winds, 
which are westerly. 

The same cause operates to produce corresponding 
effects on the continent of America — only in a greater 
degree ; the ocean to the windward of it being larger and 
warmer than that which washes its eastern shores. The 
isothermal line, therefore, runs farther north on the west 
coast of America than on the east. That line, starting 
from New York and drawn across the continent, would 
pass through Lake Winnipeg to Fort Simpson, which is 
1,000 miles north of the commercial capital of the United 
States. The northern shore of Lake Huron enjoys the 
mean summer temperature of Bordeaux* in the south of 
France (70° Fahr.), while Cumberland House, in lat. 54° 
long. 102°, on the Saskatchewan, exceeds in this respect 
Brussels and Paris. 

Even supposing that equal parallels of latitude should 
coincide with equal lines of mean temperature all round 
the globe — which we do not find to be the case — what 
is there to prevent regions as high as the 60th parallel 
in the western hemisphere being as productive as those 
of the same latitude and altitude in the eastern ? That 
parallel passes through Christiana in Norway, to the north 
of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and through St. 
Petersburg. But on the principle just affirmed, places in 
America corresponding in altitude to those in Europe 
which I have specified, ought to prove more genial as 
homes of civilisation. 

One of the witnesses before the Committee of the House 
of Commons in '57, stated that on the 1st of May the 
Saskatchewan country was free from snow, and the river 

B B 



370 WHO IS TO MAKE THE ROAD? 

full of water ; and Capt. Palliser records that on January 
9, 1858, there was little or no snow on the ground from 
Edmonton to Eocky Mountain House. 

I trust the overwhelming importance of the topic dis- 
cussed in this part of the volume will be deemed a suffi- 
cient justification of the length to which these statements 
have extended. Desire to promote and facilitate trade 
with the East has been shown to have been the incentive 
to exploration among ancient nations and the origin of 
most maritime discoveries in more modern times. So far 
from rivalry for the possession of this rich prize abating, 
civilised peoples of our day are animated by more spirited 
emulation, and devising more vigorous measures than ever 
for its attainment. Attempts to find a northern sea pas- 
sage to the attractive shores of the East — long and 
doggedly persisted in — have been finally abandoned ; and 
the application of steam to land- transit and of electricity 
to the transmission of messages has revolutionised our 
ideas of the value attaching to the fertile solitudes between 
Canada and the Eocky Mountains. Science, commerce, 
and political economy have arrived at signal unanimity 
respecting that territory as affording the most pleasant and 
expeditious route to China and Australia, combining also 
the marked convenience of its running wholly through 
British dominions. 

One question remains. To whom are we to look for 
doing this work ? Canada can only be expected to per- 
form that part which goes to her western boundary. 
Her claim to the regions beyond is not likely to be again 
pressed, on the ground of ancient French title, and, if 
pressed, certain never to be acknowledged. Whether 
the enterprise is carried through by England, the 
Hudson's Bay Company, or private capitalists under con- 
cessions and privileges granted by the Imperial Govern- 



DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT. 37l 

ment or by the company, depends upon the result of 
negotiations now in progress between the latter and th e 
former. 

It is unnecessary here to enter upon the perplexed 
and interminable enquiry whether the possessory rights 
of the company rest on valid grounds, though evidence 
is before me which goes far to prove their title invalid. 
Should the Crown, however, refrain from enforcing its 
right to absolute ownership of the intermediate territory 
between Lake Superior and the Eocky Mountains, it is 
at least in a position to effect some compromise with the 
company, whereby the rigour of their claims shall be 
modified and the accomplishment of the undertaking 
secured. I cannot believe that the present able Secretary 
of State for the Colonies will permit the tangled relations 
between the company and the Imperial Government to 
remain any longer unadjusted. 

NOTE. 

In the House of Commons, June 30, 1864, on a motion to go 
into Committee of Supply — 

Mr. A. Mills rose to call attention to the territories at present 
occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company. He said these terri- 
tories were granted to the company by a charter of Charles II. 
in 1670. By the treaty of Ryswick, in 1696, it was oAmitted 
that these territories belonged to France. In 1713 the treaty 
of Utrecht admitted that three-fourths belonged to France; and 
it was not until the treaty of Paris in 1763 that they ivere 
pretended to be the property of the Crown of England. All 
legal authorities, however, held that whatever defects there 
might be in the charter of the company, they had been cured 
by prescription during 200 years, and supported by numerous 
Acts of Parliament. There was a large tract of country em- 
bracing 60,000 or 70,000 square miles, and which was admitted 
by all testimony to be most fertile land, which it would be well 

B B 2 



372 SPEECH OF MR. A. MILLS. 

to make the subject of enquiry. That question was now prac- 
tically shut up, and the question was how it was to be opened. 
It would be admitted by all that the connection of the Atlantic 
and Pacific by a chain of settlements would be of advantage, 
and that an opening for the China trade through British terri- 
tory would be a matter of great importance. No doubt it would 
be of practical importance to fuse into a federal union all the 
British territories in North America. The colony of Canada 
had expressed its readiness to take upon itself a certain amount 
of the financial responsibility of opening up this district. The 
colony of Canada, however, required a stipulation that the 
boundary of Canada should be defined. The Hudson's Bay 
Company last year appeared under new auspices ; but they had 
not lost their old character, and appeared to be as much opposed 
as ever to colonisation and civilisation. The Hudson's Bay 
Company said they would not go before any tribunal ; they 
would not open the question of boundary ; they would stand 
upon their rights, and those rights they were prepared to up- 
hold. The question was, would Imperial England allow any 
obstruction of that kind ? The reply of Mr. Dallas, the chief 
officer of the Hudson's Bay Company in their territory, to this 
proposal of the colony of Canada was, that its adoption would 
interfere with the trade of the company. He did not apprehend 
that the right honourable gentleman the Secretary for the 
Colonies would refuse to afford facilities for the settlement of 
the question ; but he wanted him to state that no obstruction 
would be offered on the part of the Government, if the colony 
of Canada wished to raise this question as between themselves 
and the Hudson's Bay Company. There were, no doubt, good 
reasons, in a financial point of view, why Great Britain should 
not undertake to establish a new colony in North America. . . . 
He would not say whether the Ked Eiver settlement should 
be ultimately annexed to British Columbia or to Canada, but 
he wished to call the attention of the Colonial Secretary to the 
immense importance of facilitating a union between all our 
colonies in North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
which union the colonies themselves desired to see accomplished. 
He believed that for the furtherance of English interests at that 



VIEWS OF MR. WATKIN AND MR. CARD WELL. 373 

time, when those vast territories would become self-supporting 
and independent of the mother-country, the wisest policy the 
Government could adopt was to promote that union. 

Mr. Watkin said, what Canada proposed was simply to pay 
part of the expense of connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific 
by means of telegraphic and postal communication. It was 
Canada that put impediments in the way of the settlement of 
this question of the Hudson's Bay Company territory. Was it 
not extraordinary that in these days a private company should 
be allowed to hold, under a charter of Charles II., so immense 
a territory, and have the power almost of levying war, and cer- 
tainly of defending by military force the frontiers of that terri- 
tory ? Unless Her Majesty's Government were prepared to take 
immediate steps in reference to this question, nothing in the 
world could prevent that which might be hereafter a thriving 
and valuable British colony from becoming a mere American 
settlement. 

Mr. Caedwell would not go into the past history of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, because it was almost as vast as their 
territory. He would commence by referring to the committee 
that took place in 1857, and of which the hon. gentleman was 
a member. That committee, noticing the desire which existed 
for a settlement respecting this territory, recommended that an 
offer should be made to Canada that if she thought proper she 
might become the possessor of the territory, if she would incur 
the expense of annexing it. Immediately after the report of 
the committee,, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies 
made proposals to Canada and to the Hudson's Bay Company. 
Acting under the advice of the law officers of the Crown, he 
felt that it was wholly impossible for him to dispute the validity 
of a charter that had existed for centuries ; but he made to the 
company and to Canada that other proposal which the hon. 
gentleman suggested we should make, viz., that the question of 
the boundaries of Canada should be referred to the decision of 
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. To that proposal 
the company were willing to assent, but Canada, he believed, 
declined to assent. (Hear.) The demand of Canada was that 
the validity of the charter should be referred to the Judicial 



374 MR. lyall's defence of the company. 

Committee, and the company most naturally objected to that 
course. The Colonial Secretary then gave notice that he should 
open new negotiations. In 1862 a negotiation was opened by 
the late Colonial Secretary with a private company to connect 
the Pacific with the Atlantic by telegraphic communication and 
post roads. Afterwards the Hudson's Bay Company united with 
that private company, and negotiations were continued for a 
surrender of the whole territories of the company to the Crown. 
Those negotiations obtained the consent of that House, and a 
proposal was arrived at that the Hudson's Bay Company should 
be compensated from the proceeds of the sale of lands. The 
details of that proposal, however, were not agreed to ; and at 
that point he (Mr. Card well) succeeded to his present office. 
The hon. gentleman, as he understood, pointed out that it was 
the duty of the Colonial Office to give Canada every opportunity 
for entering into this negotiation ; but the hon. gentleman would 
see that that course had been anticipated. His (Mr. Cardwell's) 
notice in the course of his communications was that, if a 
colony was to be founded in the territory referred to, some pro- 
vision should be made for its expenses towards the maintenance 
of good government and its future settlement. That provision 
must be made either by the company, by the colony of Canada, 
or by the Imperial exchequer. Having negotiated with the 
company for the surrender of its interests to the Crown, he had 
also renewed to the colony of Canada the proposal made on the 
recommendation of the committee of 1857, and invited it, in 
case it should refuse the responsibility offered, to inform the 
Crown what were its views as to the western boundary, so that 
the question might be settled, and the territory put in a fair 
way of government and settlement. Having thus succinctly, as 
he hoped, put the matter before the House, he should have 
great pleasure in laying the papers on the table as soon as they 
were ready. 

Mr. Ltall assured the hon. gentleman that he was mistaken 
in supposing that the Hudson's Bay Company had sent out 
telegraphic wires for the purpose of connecting Minnesota with 
the Bed Eiver, and thereby increasing the influence of the 
United States in the Hudson's Bay territory. The directors 



REMARKS OF COLONEL SY&ES. 375 

who came into office a year ago took into consideration the sub- 
ject of communication between Columbia and Canada in associ- 
ation with the question of communication with China, and they 
had sent out wires for that purpose. But if Canada were not 
prepared to do her part in overcoming the natural difficulties of 
the country between her and the Eed Eiver settlement, it would 
be necessary for the company to connect with Minnesota, from 
which they were only distant about fifty miles. With respect 
to the new government of the company, they were by no means 
disposed to retard colonisation ; they waited, however, for roads 
and other communications ; and it was felt, moreover, that 
greater powers must be obtained by the company in order to 
establish good order in the settlement. The whole subject was 
under the consideration of the Colonial Office, and he trusted 
that an extended colonisation of a great territory would be pro- 
moted. 

Colonel Sykes urged the great importance of communicating 
with Columbia. We could not get there at all except by 
Panama and Cape Horn. So that Columbia were connected 
with Canada, what mattered it whether the communication were 
effected by the colony of Canada or by an independent com- 
pany ? The result would be that direct communication with 
China would be established. The undertaking was one of great 
importance, and if it could be effected by a little pressure on 
the Hudson's Bay Company, it would be politic for the Grovern- 
ment to exercise it. The hon. gentleman who brought the 
question forward was entitled to the thanks of the House for so 
doing. 

Memorial of the People of Red River Settlement to the British 
and Canadian Governments. 

The people of the Eed Eiver settlement hereby desire briefly 
to set forth their views and wishes in reference to the proposed 
opening up of the road from Canada to British Columbia 
through the Eed Eiver and Saskatchewan region, and the 
establishing of a telegraphic line along the same. 

The people of Eed Eiver have long since. earnestly desired to 



376 MEMORIAL OF EED RIVER SETTLERS 

see the Lake Superior route opened up for commerce and 
emigration, and they rejoice to hear of the proposal to open up 
a road and establish a line of telegraphic communication through 
the interior to British Columbia entirely within British terri- 
tory, believing that such works would greatly benefit this 
country, while subserving at the same time both Canadian and 
Imperial interests. . . . 

It is true that this route, for reasons which need not here be 
alluded to, has of late years been neglected ; yet, when the fact 
is generally known that this was the regular route by which the 
North-West Fur Company imported and exported heavy cargoes 
for more than a quarter of a century, and which the Hudson's 
Bay Company have used more or less for three-quarters of a 
century, it must be granted that the natural difficulties cannot 
be so great as they are commonly reported to be. 

We, the people of this settlement, are so anxious to have a 
proper outlet in this direction, that we are quite prepared our- 
selves to undertake at our own expense the opening of a road 
from this settlement to Lake of the Woods, a distance of 90 or 
100 miles, if England or Canada will guarantee the opening of 
the section from Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior, 

From our intimate knowledge of the country lying between 
this place and the Rocky Mountains, we consider the project of 
a road in that direction perfectly practicable, at a comparatively 
small outlay. At all times, during the summer season, loaded 
carts go from this place to Carlton, Fort Pitt, and Edmonton, 
on the Upper Saskatchewan; and last summer a party of 
Canadians, about 200 in number (en route to British Columbia), 
passed over the same road, and went with their vehicles to the 
very base of the Rocky Mountains; clearly showing that along 
the whole way there are, even at present, no insuperable ob- 
stacles to the passage of carts and waggons. . . . 

The whole country through which the proposed road would 
run, almost from Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains, is 
remarkably level. The surface of this vast region is, generally 
speaking, like the ocean surface in a calm ; and, besides being 
so remarkably level, it is, for the most part, free from those 
heavy forests which, in Canada and elsewhere, cause such delay 



TO BRITISH AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS. 377 

and expense in roadmaking. We believe a railway could be 
here laid at a cheaper rate than in most countries. . . . 

Canada would derive great benefit from the overland carrying- 
trade, which would spring up immediately on the establishment 
of this route, and the constantly-growing traffic of this district 
and British Columbia would thereafter be an ever-increasing 
source of profit. . . . 

This is the most natural highway by which commerce and 
general business with the East could be carried on ; it would 
be also the most expeditious. And, as a result of such com- 
merce and traffic along this route, Central British America 
would rapidly fill up with an industrious loyal people ; and thus 
from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia, Great Britain would 
have an unbroken series of colonies, a grand confederation of 
loyal and flourishing provinces, skirting the whole United States 
frontier, and commanding at once the Atlantic and Pacific. In 
this connection we feel bound to observe that American influence 
is rapidly gaining ground here ; and if action is long delayed 
very unpleasant complications may arise. Thus, both politically 
and commercially, the opening up of this country, and the 
making through it a national highway, would immensely sub- 
serve Imperial interests, and contribute to the stability and 
glorious prestige of the British empire. 

These views the people of Eed River desire most respectfully 
to present for the consideration of the British and Canadian 
Governments, and they earnestly hope that this year may 
witness the formal commencement of operations with a view to 
a telegraphic line, and a road from Lake Superior to this 
settlement, if not through the whole extent of country from 
Canada to British Columbia. 

(Signed) James Ross, 

Chairman of Public Meetings. 
Red River Settlement, 
January 21, 1863. 



378 



CHAPTEE XV. 

SOCIETY m VANCOUVER ISLAND AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Varieties of Race represented in Victoria — Tschudi's Classification of 
human Hybrids — The ultimate Effect of present heterogeneous Mixture 
of Types upon the Character of the Population —Civil Disabilities im- 
posed on Negroes and Chinamen in California, to discourage their Resi- 
dence — Missionary Labour among the Chinese — Visit to a Buddhist 
Temple — Address of the Chinese of Victoria to the Governor — Condition 
of the Negroes — Differences between them and the Whites — Sir James 
Douglas — Verdant Simplicity of New Comers — English and American 
Ladies compared — Tone of Society in 1859 — Defalcations of Government 
Officials — Escapade of a Quack — ' Widows ' and their Adventures — 
Temptations of Young Men — The 'Skedaddler' — Excitement of Colo- 
nial Life, and its Effect on the Brain — Intelligence of the Community — 
The social Pyramid inverted — Life at the Mines — Miners' Ten Com- 
mandments. 

It was remarked by an intelligent shipmaster, whom I 
met in Victoria, that he had not found in any of the 
numerous ports he had visited during a long sea-faring 
career, so mixed a population as existed in that city. 
Though containing at present an average of only 5,000 
or 6,000 inhabitants, one cannot pass along the principal 
thoroughfares without meeting representatives of almost 
every tribe and nationality under heaven. Within a limited 
space may be seen — of Europeans, Eussians, Austrians, 
Poles, Hungarians, Italians, Danes, Swedes, French, 
Germans, Spaniards, Swiss, Scotch, English and Irish ; 
of Africans, Negroes from the United States and the 
West Indies ; of Asiatics, Lascars and Chinamen ; of 
Americans, Indians, Mexicans, Chilanos, and citizens of 



VARIETIES OF RACE. 379 

the North American Eepublic ; and of Polynesians, 
Malays from the Sandwich Islands. 

Among the many remarkable matrimonial alliances to 
be met with, I have known Europeans married to pure 
squaws, Indian half-breeds and Mulatto females respec- 
tively. One case has come under my observation of a 
negro married to a white woman, and another of a man 
descended from a Hindoo mother married to a wife of 
Indian extraction. A gentleman of large property, re- 
ported to be of Mulatto origin, is married to a half-breed 
Indian. From these heterogeneous unions, and from illicit 
commerce between the various races just enumerated, it 
is evident that our population cannot escape the infusion 
of a considerable hybrid offspring. 

Apart from the effect of intercourse between the 
Mongolian and other races in our midst, we may certainly 
calculate upon twenty-three crosses^ in different degrees, 
resulting from the blending of the Caucasian, the 
aboriginal American and the negro. 

The following is the arrangement of Tschucli as adopted 
by Nott and Gliddon in their able work entitled ' Types 
of Mankind' :— 

Parents Children 

White father and Negro mother Mulatto 



77 


V 


Indian 


v 


Mestiza 


Indian 


v 


Negro 


it 


Chino 


White 


v 


Mulatto 


)■> 


Cuarteron 


V 


)i 


Mestiza 


)i 


Creole (pale brownish complexion) 


j) 


T) 


Chino 


« 


Chino-blanco 


V 


n 


Cuarterona „ 


Quintero 


V 


n 


Quintera 


» 


White 


Negro 


y> 


Indian 


n 


Zambo 


•)•> 


» 


Mulatto 


V 


Zambo-negro 


n 


iy 


Mestiza 


V) 


Mulatto-oscuro 


n 


» 


Chino 


V 


Zambo-chino 


V 


» 


Zamba 


V 


Zambo-negro (perfectly black) 


V 


)> 


Quintera 


r> 


Mulatto (rather dark) 


Indian 


jj 


Mulatto 


» 


Chino-oscuro 



380 EFFECT OF MIXTURE OF .TYPES. 

Parents Children 

Indian father and Mestiza mother Mestizo-claro (frequently very beautiful) 



V 


V 


Chino „ 


Chino-cola 


» 


}) 


Zamba „ 


Zambo-claro 


V 


V 


Chino-cola „ 


Indian (with frizzly hair) 


)) 


V 


Quintera „ 


Mestizo (rather brown) 


Mulatto 


V 


Zamba „ 


Zambo (a miserable race) 


V 


. V 


Mestiza „ 


Chino (rather clear complexion) 


>» 


V 


Chino „ 


Chino (rather dark). 



It is to be feared that these varieties of humanity do 
not occupy our soil and multiply their kind, in every 
instance, witjiout detriment to that type which we desire 
should preponderate. What is to be the effect, upon that 
section of posterity which will, in future centuries, 
inhabit the British North American shores of the Pacific, 
of this commingling of races so diverse in physiological, 
psychological, intellectual, moral, religious, and political 
aspects ? Circumstances of climate, scenery, race, and 
natural productions have combined to determine the 
particular mould in which the thought and life of other 
peoples, ancient and modern, have been cast. What then 
will be the resultant of the manifold and unequal forces 
operating in the formation of distinctive national charac- 
teristics in these colonies ? This is an interesting and 
momentous problem which coining ages alone can solve. 

In description of resources Vancouver Island may 
resemble the parent country, and thus merit the proud 
title of ' the England of the Pacific.' But the peculiar 
elements composing the nucleus of the population render 
it physically impossible for that exact form of national 
character we have been accustomed to ascribe to Great 
Britain to be perpetuated in the island of the Far West. 
Does the presence, so largely, of inferior races forbode the 
fatal tainting of the young nation's blood and signal its 
premature decay, or will the vitality of the governing race 



CIVIL DISABILITIES OF CHINESE AND NEGROES. 381 

triumph, over tlie contamination with which more primi- 
tive types threaten to impregnate it ? This is the important 
enquiry that engrosses the attention of ethnological specu- 
lators in the nascent communities of the North Pacific. 

It is gravely argued by some that to the Caucasian 
race has been assigned supremacy over the rest of man- 
kind ; that no new combination of distinct existing races 
can improve its towering excellence ; that in proportion 
to the rapidity with which deleterious elements are intro- 
duced, must in course of time be the ratio of its degeneracy 
and final extinction ; that as in the twelfth century, under 
the leadership of Genghis Khan and his successors, the 
Kirghis and the Calmucs from the north of China were 
hurled upon Russia, so hordes of modern Asiatics from 
the former country, lured by the gold of California and 
British Columbia, may, at some remote period, again 
inundate these new lands and blast them with desolation. 
This dark apprehension is shared extensively by the fore- 
most minds in California. Civil disabilities and statutory 
restrictions have, in consequence, been imposed by the 
State Legislature with the design of checking their 
immigration. As in the case of negroes in that State, the 
testimony of the Chinese is not accepted as legal evidence 
in courts of justice, and they are burdened with taxation 
beyond what would be endured by the white race. 

It is maintained also, that while by intermarrying with 
descendants of Europeans we are but reproducing our 
own Caucasian type, by commingling with eastern Asiatics 
we are creating debased hybrids ; that the primary law 
of nature teaches self-preservation ; and that such protec- 
tive enactments as have been referred to are essential to 
the perpetuation and advancement of the nation.* 

* Signs have lately appeared in the American Legislature of the social 
taboo being removed from negro citizens in the States. 



382 HABITS OF THE CHINESE. 

Happily both these coloured races are admitted to 
the enjoyment of civil privileges in these colonies upon 
terms of perfect equality with white foreigners, and are 
alike eligible for naturalisation. Yet even on the British 
side of the boundary there is a disposition to look coldly 
upon the immigration of Celestials. It is alleged that so 
large an amount of Chinese labour must have the effect of 
reducing the price of white labour. But such an opinion 
is without foundation ; for those Chinamen, who arrive 
without capital, are only capable of engaging in menial 
employments, such as cooking, hawking tea, and keeping 
laundries. It is but few skilled labourers, I presume, 
that would desire to compete with them in these callings. 
Nor can their presence at the mines at all interfere with 
the enterprises of the superior race ; for it is well known 
that they are unable to resort to those mechanical appli- 
ances requisite in the working of rich diggings ; that 
they always keep at a respectful distance from the whites, 
and are content with such small returns as may be yielded 
by abandoned ' claims,' from which the whites have 
already taken the cream. 

As to the fear that, if access to the country were not 
made strait for them, they might ultimately overrun and 
devastate it like a plague of locusts, nothing could be 
more groundless. No people have a more intelligent 
acquaintance with ' the law of supply and demand.' 
They are generally under the direction of shrewd 
merchants among their own countrymen, who never 
encourage the poorer classes to leave China without being 
certain that a fair prospect of occupation exists for them 
in the parts to which they are imported ; and in this 
respect the judgment of those leading Chinamen is rarely 
at fault. It must be acknowledged to their credit that in 
California, British Columbia, and Vancouver Island, an 



THEIR INFLUENCE UPON TRADE. 383 

unemployed Chinaman is seldom to be met with, and a 
more industrious and law-abiding class does not reside in 
these dependencies. In their social and domestic habits, 
however, I frankly admit there is room for much improve- 
ment as far as cleanliness is concerned. 

It is natural that a race so exclusive and so much 
avoided by their white fellow-citizens on the coast, should 
give preference to the manufactures of their own country. 
Much of the clothing they wear and many of their articles 
of food come from China. They contrive, it is true, to 
spend as little of their earnings as possible on their 
adopted soil — most of the money made by the humbler 
classes among them being remitted home for the laud.able 
object of contributing to the support of needy relatives. 
But it is a mistake to regard the trade done and the 
capital acquired by them as so much wealth diverted from 
the channels of white industry, since but for their presence 
in the country the greater part of that trade would not 
have been created ; nor would that capital have been 
accumulated. They cannot prevent commercial advantage 
accruing to the colonies from their influence, if they 
would. It is often British bottoms that convey them 
from China, and they are obliged to buy hardware, water- 
proof boots, and pork from us. Poultry, too, being 
esteemed a great luxury, is in great demand among them. 
When they have lived among the civilised for a time, it 
not unfrequently happens that they adopt the European 
and American costume entire. 

After a protected expenditure of missionary labour 
upon the attempted evangelisation of the 40,000 Chinese 
scattered throughout California, the number who have even 
had the curiosity to wait on the ministrations of Christian 
instructors is very insignificant. Having been the guest 
for some weeks of an American missionary to the Chinese 



384 RELATIONS OF THE CHINESE TO CHRISTIANITY. 

in San Francisco, I have pleasure in testifying that tardy 
success in the work of their conversion is owing neither 
to want of ability or zeal on the part of that pious and 
excellent agent. 

Efforts have been made by a clergyman in British 
Columbia, under the direction of the bishop, for the same 
object, but, as far as I can ascertain, hitherto without any 
visible result. 

The minds of the Chinese generally are by no means unin- 
terested in religious matters. Most of them I have met are 
a reading people, and ingenious in their remarks on that 
subject. In conversation with one settled in Victoria, who 
could make himself intelligible in broken English, I 
observed that he had some acquaintance with the Biblical 
account of the creation and the fall of man ; but with 
the cavalier manner of a sceptic, he simply declared it 
legendary, and showed a preference for the view of those 
events contained in the sacred books of Buddhism as 
more interesting. The question of truth did not trouble 
him in either case ; for he smiled at the Pagan and 
Christian views of the matter as equally fictitious. It was 
with the same theoretic air that he discussed with me the 
facts of Christianity. He had heard of the mission of the 
Saviour ; but could not be induced to think that it had 
anything to do with him as a celestial. c Jesus Christ,' 
said he, ' very good Grod for Englishman, but He no do 
for Chinaman.' I heard of one of that race who was 
present on a certain occasion, when differences of religious 
creed were in debate. The various shades of Christian 
belief, I understand, are intolerably perplexing to intelligent 
Chinamen who visit our shores. ' John ' is said to have 
listened to the controversy, without edification, till his 
patience could hold out no longer, and calling the atten- 
tion of the Christian combatants, he interposed the 



VISIT TO A BUDDHIST TEMPLE. 385 

following latitudinarian remark, to the surprise of them 
a]l : ' Eeligions different ; reason one ; we all brothers.' 

A striking feature in the social organisation of the 
Chinese in California is that they have planted temples of 
Buddha in the very heart of the Christian institutions of 
that State. 

Through the kindness of the excellent missionary above 
alluded to, I was conducted through one of their large 
establishments in San Francisco — a brick building several 
stories high, and covering a considerable plot of ground. 
Here immigrants from China consigned to a certain native 
company in that city, are accommodated with board and 
lodging till situations can be obtained for them. The 
house is divided into stores, apartments for the use of 
new arrivals and invalids, a small theatre, and a place of 
worship. In passing through the rooms my friend and I 
were received with a profusion of courtesy, for which we 
w r ere partially indebted to the acquaintance of Mr. Loomis 
with the Chinese language. Seats were placed for us, and 
small cups of tea, with cigarillas. A sour time was limited, we 
were obliged to decline these offers of hospitality — an act 
which I fear did not raise their estimate of our politeness. 
My friend, whom they already knew, was interrogated with 
their accustomed inquisitiveness as to my name, profession, 
residence, &c. 

We next entered the temple — a hall 60 feet by 40, 
emblazoned with devices, consisting of pictorial represen- 
tations and brief quotations from their sacred books, done 
in gilt, and appropriate to the frame of mind sought to 
be excited in such a place. At the end of the room 
fronting the entrance was an altar elaborately decorated. 
In the centre of this semi-circular niche stood a huge 
idol of grotesque form, calculated to inspire the spectator 
with terror and disgust. The face of this monster faintly 

c c 



386 CHINESE ADDRESS TO THE GOVERNOR. 

resembled that of a human being, but the proportions of 
his body and the disposition of his numerous and contorted 
limbs baffle description. On one side of him were 
suspended a great bell and drum, which apparatus, it was 
explained, was intended to wake the god on the 
approach of worshippers. I observed but one Chinaman 
paying his vows while I was present, and on the altar 
was an offering of fruit. 

The Chinese of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, 
only numbering at present about 2,000, have not yet 
attempted the erection of any place of devotion. But 
when attracted in greater force, the pious among them, 
according to the Buddhist standard, may be expected to 
erect fanes in which to celebrate traditional rites. 

I do not find their monotonous course of life in these 
colonies relieved by more than one holiday demonstration 
in twelve months : that takes place at the beginning of 
their new year, which is ushered in by an incessant 
firing of crackers, enveloping their quarter of the town in 
a cloud of smoke for an entire day. 

The following is the literal translation of an address 
presented by them to Governor Kennedy on his arrival 
last year, and will give some idea of their admirable 
discernment on commercial topics, especially in relation 
to the future of Victoria as a free port : — 

In the reign of Tong Chee, 3rd year, 2nd month, 26th day. 
V. I., ] 864 year, 4th month, 2nd day. 

Us Chinese men greeting thee Excellency in first degree Arthur 
Edward Kennedy, thee in first rank country name Vancouver 
with hangers to it. 

All us here be dwellers at Victoria this Island and Columbia 
British. 

Much wish to show mind of dutiful loyalty to this kingdom, 
mother Victoria Queen, for square and equal rule of us. 



THE TREATMENT WE OWE THEM. 387 

Just now must humbly offer much joined mind of compliments 
to thee Excellency Governor Kennedy, on stepping to this land 
of Vancouver, that thee be no longer in danger of typhoon us 
much delighted. 
Us be here from year 1858, and count over two thousand Chinese. 
Chinese countrymen much like that so few of us have been 
chastised for breaking kingdom rule. 

This kingdom rule very different from China. Chinese seem 
much devoted to Victoria Queen for protection and distributive 
rule of him Excellency old Governor Sir James Douglas, so re- 
verse California ruling when applied to us Chinese countrymen. 
Us, believing success will come in obeying rulers, not breaking 
inks, holding on to what is right and true. 

In trading, hope is good and look out large big prospects for 
time to come. 

Us like this no charge place ; see it will grow and grow higher 
to highest; can see a Canton will be in Victoria of this Pacific, 

The maritime enterprises will add up wonderfully, and come 
quick. China has silks, tea, rice, and sugar, etc. Here is lum- 
ber, coal, minerals, and fish, an exhaustless supply which no other 
land can surpass. 

In ending, us confide in gracious hope in thee, first degrees, 
and first rank, and first links, and trust our California neighbours 
may not exercise prejudice to our grief. 

Us merchants in Chinese goods in Victoria, mark our names 
in behalf of us and Chinese countrymen. 

Wishing good luck and prosperity, to all ranks, and will con- 
tinue to be faithful and true. 

Us Chinese men much please Excellency continue to give 
favour. 

Us remember to thee. 

Whether, therefore, we consider the antiquity of these 
Mongols, their natural ingenuity, or the encouragement 
afforded by their national institutions to talent, integrity, 
and industry, the most cogent reasons exist for our 
extending to them a cordial welcome. Let the colonists 
show the fruits of a superior civilisation and religion, not 

c c 2 



388 THE NEGRO ELEMENT. 

in ridiculing and despising these Pagan strangers, but in 
treating them with the gentle forbearance due to a less 
favoured portion of the family of mankind, and they will 
continue to be useful and inoffensive members of society. 
The prejudice which characterises race or colour as a 
disqualification for the exercise of civil rights reflects dis- 
honour upon the civilised community that indulges it. 

The descendants of the African race resident in the 
colonies are entitled to some notice. About 300 of them 
inhabit Victoria, and upwards of 100 are scattered 
throughout the farming settlements of the island and 
British Columbia. The chief part came to the country 
some time previous to the immigration of '58, driven from 
California by social taboo and civil disabilities. They 
invested the sums they brought with them in land, and by 
the sudden advance in the value of real estate which fol- 
lowed the influx of gold seekers, most of them immediately 
found themselves possessed of a competency. It was not 
surprising, under these circumstances, that some, formerly 
habituated to servitude or reproached as representatives 
of a barbarous race, should, on being delivered from the 
yoke of social oppression, fail to show much considera- 
tion for the indurated prejudices of the whites, most of 
whom at that period were either Americans or British 
subjects, who sympathised with the ideas prevailing in 
the United States respecting the social status of the 
coloured people. 

Whereas they had been restricted in California to 
worship Almighty God in their own churches or in a 
part of those frequented by whites, designed for the 
exclusive accommodation of persons of colour, they were 
permitted on coming to Vancouver Island free range 
of unoccupied pews, in the only church then erected in 
the colony. The church-going immigrants in the mass 



SOCIAL ANTIPATHIES. 389 

wafted to our shores in '58 were at once brought into 
a proximity with coloured worshippers which was 
repugnant to past associations. It is difficult to analyse 
this social prejudice between the races, and impossible 
to defend it. But I have been astonished to observe its 
manifestations in Christian gentlemen whose intelligence 
and general consistency were exemplary. The negro 
supporters of the church, regarding themselves as the 
' old families ' of the country and the monied aristocracy, 
and wincing under the recollection of social wrongs endured 
by them under the American flag, were not disposed to 
give way in the slightest to the whims and scruples 
of the whites. Many of the latter remonstrated with the 
clergyman against allowing the congregation to assume 
a speckled appearance — a spectacle deemed by them 
novel and inconvenient. They insisted that they were pre- 
pared to treat the 'blacks' with the utmost humanity 
and respect, in their own place ; but that the Creator 
had made a distinction which it was sinful to ignore; 
that the promiscuous arrangement might lead to the 
sexes in both races falling in love with each other, 
entering into marriage, and thus occasioning the deteriora- 
tion of the whites without the elevation of the negroes 
being effected. The worthy parson, being direct from the 
parent country, and till then wholly inexperienced in the 
social relations of the conflicting races, felt at liberty to 
take only philanthropic and religious ground in dealing 
with the question. He maintained that the stains of 
men's sin, in common, were so dark, that mere difference 
in colour was an affair of supreme insignificance before 
the Almighty, in comparison, and that the separation 
desired by the whites was of carnal suggestion, which 
Christianity demanded should be repressed. He is said 
even to have gone so deeply into the subject in a particular 



390 INTERFERENCE OF CLERGYMEN. 

sermon as to assert that the disposition of nerves, tendons, 
and arteries, and the essential faculties of the soul were 
alike in white and black — the sole distinction between 
them consisting of colouring matter under the skin, the 
projection of the lower jaw, and the wool by which the 
scalp was covered. 

But these well-intentioned arguments made no im- 
pression upon the obstinate views by which the 
bulk of the whites were influenced. In many cases 
they resented the imagined injury offered to their feelings 
by withdrawing from church altogether. While the 
community was in a ferment on the question, a zealous 
Nonconformist fresh from the anti-slavery ' platform ' of 
Canada, hastened to espouse the cause of the African. 
The coloured people, proud of so able a champion, rallied 
round him, and soon outnumbered the white adherents 
in his congregation. In making his public debut, he 
uncompromisingly announced to a congregation chiefly 
composed of whites, that no distinction should be allowed 
under his ministry in pew arrangements on the score of 
colour. The whites took alarm and the following Sunday 
two-thirds of those in attendance were of the negro race. 
This preponderance of colour in the chapel, however, did 
not accord with the objects the negroes were ambitious 
of attaining. They gradually withdrew to the fashionable 
church where they could enjoy the satisfaction of 
mingling more largely with the superior race ; and, like 
the ass in the fable, between the two bundles of hay, 
the devoted friend of the African was thus starved out 
by the desertion of oppressors and oppressed together. 
So ungratefully are the disinterested services of 
philanthropy sometimes requited ! Many were of 
opinion that a difficulty of so exceptional an order might 
have been successfully overcome by more prudent 



FRACAS OP THE WHITE AND COLOURED. 391 

reticence on the part of these conscientious ministers. 
Evidently the most effective method of allaying it was not 
to attack the position taken by the whites when their 
social antipathies were excited to fever heat, and the 
attitude assumed by the blacks was not so conciliatory as 
it ought to have been. A little good nature, cautious 
management, and expedient neutrality on the part of the 
clergy, would, I have no doubt, soon have brought the 
antagonists to a proper understanding, and silenced this 
strife for precedence in the religious assembly. 

The same prejudice of race continues, unfortunately, to 
interfere with harmony in social gatherings for the purposes 
of amusement. More than once has the presence of 
coloured persons in the pit of the theatre occasioned 
scenes of violence and bloodshed, followed by litigation. 
When, a few years since, a literary institute was attempted 
to be formed, and the signatures of one or two respectable 
negroes appeared in the list of subscribers, the movement 
came to an untimely close. A white member of a 
temperance society, which was eminently useful in the 
community, proposed the name of a coloured man for 
admission, intentionally avoiding to disclose at the time 
any information as to his race, and when it was discovered 
that the society had been beguiled, ignorantly, into 
accepting a negro as a brother teetotaller, it broke up. 

There is nothing in the constitution of the colony to 
exclude a British born negro from the municipal council 
or the legislature, and yet, however well qualified he 
might be by talent and education for the honour, his elec- 
tion could not be carried in the present state of public 
feeling. The negroes are perfectly justified in claiming 
those civil rights which British law confers upon them, 
and they are resolved not to desist struggling till these 
are fully achieved. 



392 COURSE TO BE TAKEN BY NEGROES. 

Having by commendable zeal succeeded in organising 
a rifle corps and a brass band, they expressed a wish to 
appear in uniform, on occasion of a public procession 
formed to escort the present Governor to his residence on 
landing in the colony. But the prejudice of the whites 
ruled it otherwise. When they sought an opportunity of 
showing esteem for the retiring Governor at a banquet 
given to that gentleman, admission was refused them. 
When the 'common-school ' system is introduced, in which 
the families of both races are equally entitled to partici- 
pate, I foresee that storms will arise. 

Many of this people in the country are necessarily 
endowed with very limited intelligence, while some are 
well-informed and eloquent in speech. But, as a race, 
they compare favourably with whites of corresponding 
social position, in industry and uprightness. 

It was remarked by Sydney Smith that ' we cannot 
extort friendship from those whose regard we covet, with 
a cocked pistol.' If ever, therefore, the fusion of races 
sought by persons of colour is to be brought about, that 
end will not be accelerated by our negro brethren adopting 
coercive and resentful measures. Their lot in the social 
scale should be borne with philosophic patience and 
Christian resignation. They should guard against causing 
their fellow-citizens needless irritation, and remember that 
prejudices long fostered by association cannot be conquered 
in a moment. 

The manners of the white residents toward each other 
strike one accustomed to the taciturnity for which society 
in England is proverbial, as remarkably free and hearty. 
This rule, however, is not without exceptions. 

The Government officials constitute . the centre of the 
social system (still in a formative state), and around it 
multitudes of broken-down gentlemen and certain needy 



SIR JAMES DOUGLAS. 393 

tradespeople rotate. The most wealthy members of the 
community have, in general, more money than culture — a 
condition of things always incident to the early stage of 
colonial development. Many of them owe their improved 
circumstances simply to being the lucky possessors of real 
estate at a time when it could be bought for a nominal 
amount. Some who eight years ago were journeymen 
smiths, carpenters, butchers, bakers, public-house keepers, 
or proprietors of small curiosity shops in San Francisco or 
Victoria, are now in the receipt of thousands of pounds a 
year. Among this class there are those who bear their 
prosperity with moderation, while others indicate the 
limited extent of their acquaintance with the world by an 
air of amusing assumption. 

There is a resident in the country who, in consideration 
of his past official relation to it, as first Governor of British 
Columbia, deserves passing notice in this place. I refer 
to Sir James Douglas. This gentleman is completely un- 
known in England, except at the Colonial Office and to a 
few directors of the Hudson's Bay Company. But being 
a local celebrity, the reader may not object to be introduced 
to so interesting a character. In stature he exceeds six 
feet. His countenance, by its weather-beaten appearance, 
still tells of many years spent in fur-trapping adventure, in 
the wilds of the interior. Introduced at the age of fifteen 
or sixteen from the West Indies, the reputed place of his 
birth, into the service of the company, and deprived, during 
the greater part of his life, of the advantages of society, 
except that of Indians, half-breeds, and persons like 
himself occupying humble situations in the employ of the 
company, every praise is due to him for not being indifferent 
to mental culture in those mountain solitudes in which the 
flower of his manhood was passed. The stateliness of 
his person — of which he always seems proudly conscious — 



394 HIS DEPOETMENT. 

and his natural force of character suggest the reflec- 
tion to an observer, how vastly more agreeable would 
have been his address and powerful the influence of 
his character and abilities had he enjoyed in early life a 
liberal education and intercourse with persons of refinement 
and culture. De Quincey describes the well-known Dr. 
Parr, as the ' Birmingham Dr. Johnson ' — an expression 
signifying that the former was but an electro-plated imita- 
tion of the latter. The application of this remark may be 
left to the reader in reference to the pretentious deport- 
ment of Sir James. His efforts to appear grand, and 
even august, were ludicrously out of proportion to the 
insignificant population he governed — numbering less 
than the inhabitants of many a country town in England. 
When he spoke to anyone within the precincts of 
the Government House, his Quixotic notions of his office, 
which he evidently thought splendid, prompted him to 
make choice of the sesquipedalian diction he employed 
in his despatches. The angle of his head, the official tone, 
the extension of his hand, the bland smile which never 
reached beyond the corners of his mouth — all these stiff 
and artificial arrangements were carefully "got up and daily 
repeated by him under the delusion that the public 
imagined him to be natural and a perfect Brummell in 
politeness. His manners always gave one the impression 
that to make up for early disadvantages he had religiously 
adjusted his whole bearing to the standard of Lord 
Chesterfield, and it is needless to say how amusing was the 
combination of his lordship and this dignified old fur- 
trapper. 

His attitude toward the officials serving under his 
government was austere and distant. This he had acquired 
under the sort of military regime observed between the 
officers and servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. I 



PETTY DIPLOMACY. 395 

have heard magistrates addressed by him in a pom- 
pous manner that no English gentleman would assume 
toward his porter. But Sir James solemnly felt that ' the 
machine of state ' could only be kept in motion by his 
delivering commands, with head erect, and with that 
rotund and peremptory utterance which at once betrayed 
and excused vulgarity. 

He was rarely visible at his desk or in the street with- 
out being arrayed in semi-mihtary uniform ; but the climax 
of his extravagance was probably capped by his being 
followed perpetually, whether taking an airing in the 
country or going to visit, by an imposing orderly, duly 
armed and in uniform. In so small and practical a town 
as Victoria, the temptation of the local wits to satirise so 
preposterous a spectacle was irresistible. 

Petty diplomacy was a passion with Sir James — doubt- 
less developed, from his youth, in the wheedling mode of 
transacting business with the Indians, adopted by the 
company in the interior. He never sent away any sup- 
pliant for governmental favours without holding out some 
hope, which, at the same moment, he, in many cases, 
determined to frustrate. A favourite plan of his with any 
whom he thus sought to keep in good humour was to 
exhaust their patience by expedient and indefinite posk 
ponement of the object desired. 

A certain description of immigrants fresh from England, 
imagine in their verdant simplicity that their recent arrival 
from that great centre of knowledge and civilisation gives 
them a right to patronise colonists whose condition they 
deem benighted from long exile. The class I refer to 
have a weakness for manufacturing stories of better days, 
departed greatness, and rich relations. One person whom 
I knew professed to be a University man ; to have been 
familiar with a European prince ; heir of a large estate 



396 VERDANT SIMPLICITY OF NEW-COMERS. 

and ward of a gentleman of influence in England. The 
curiosity of a friend being excited to learn particulars 
respecting the mysterious history he supposed to attach 
to this hero, wrote home to parties claimed by him as 
former associates. On investigation, it appeared that he 
was a bankrupt draper and an outlaw, who had changed his 
name. 

Amusing disclosures are sometimes made about certain 
ladies who are anxious to impress the public by exagge- 
rated representations of their former position in society 
at home. These elegant specimens of affectation entertain 
visitors, languidly, with narratives, intended to set forth 
the contrast asserted to exist between present hardships 
and former affluence. But. by an unhappy coincidence, 
some one usually turns up who knows all about their 
antecedents ; and then the truth comes out, assigning 
them a very different place in society from what they 
pretended to. 

One lady, who had contracted the inconvenient habit 
of dropping her A's, and using singular verbs with plural 
nouns, provoked enquiry into the past by expatiating on 
the magnificence of her ancestral mansion — the number 
of stories it contained, its turrets and battlements, and 
the fine view of the sea it commanded. The fact was, to 
speak without figure, she was the daughter of a worthy 
lighthouse-keeper ! 

If the character of people is respectable, humble origin 
is felt to be much less a barrier to advancement in the 
colonies than in England. But in no part of the empire 
are shams so readily detected. 

Let it not be supposed, however, that our female society 
is entirely composed of this or of any other class that is 
doubtful. It must be confessed, that there are too many 
females in both colonies, as everywhere else, that reflect 



AMERICAN AND ENGLISH LADIES. 397 

as little credit upon the land of their adoption as they did 
on the land of their birth. Still, we have among us ladies 
of birth and education, and, what is yet more important, 
of moral qualities that would render them an ornament 
to their sex in any part of the world. 

Eefugees from bankruptcy, disgrace, or family strife, 
suffered in some other part of the world, are to be met 
with in Victoria every few yards. But among the unfor- 
tunate are some of the most estimable men I have ever 
seen. 

The tone of society has become decidedly more British 
since 1859 ; but still, as then, the American element pre- 
vails. Citizens of the United States may easily be known 
by their spare, erect, and manly figure. The business 
men among them are, for the most part, attired in super- 
fine cloth, most frequently of a dark colour, and high- 
heeled, broad-toed boots, of admirable fit. The coloured 
shooting-jacket, so frequently worn by Englishmen in the 
colony during the week, has no attraction for Ame- 
ricans. 

For ethereal beauty, handsomeness, liveliness, and 
general intelligence, American ladies must be allowed 
to be eminently distinguished. That high refinement, 
which can only result from breeding and education, and 
is to be found in the foremost rank of British society, 
is without parallel among Americans. But it is my 
impression that the average of educated American ladies 
cannot be equalled, in interesting expression of counte- 
nance and brightness of intellect, by English ladies of the 
middle-class generally. The charming sweetness of the 
American beauty, however, fades prematurely, and at the 
age of 30, when a well-developed English lady is but in 
her prime, the smooth visage and transparent complexion 
of our fair cousin have been for years invaded by wrinkles. 



398 CHAPTER OF OCCURRENCES. 

Americans appear to me defective in conversational 
power. However rapid and distinct their speech may be, 
the diction employed by them is so stilted, and their forms 
of expression are so elaborate, as to contrast unfavourably 
with the terse idiomatic phraseology used by those En- 
glishmen who are competent to wield their own language. 

A tolerably correct idea of white society in Victoria, at 
the period when I arrived in the colony, may be gathered 
from the chapter of occurrences which took place in the 
small wooden hotel at which I put up, then affording the 
best public accommodation to be obtained in the place. 
On entering the restaurant the morning of my arrival, the 
first customer I saw was a tall gentleman with hair of a 
very red hue, immense moustache, and beard of the same 
colour and size. This happened to be a man of good 
family, whose name I recollected to have seen figure in 
the 'Times,' as co-respondent in a case tried a few 
months previously before Sir Cresswell Cresswell. 
Having been mulcted in heavy damages, he absconded 
from the parent country. Notwithstanding the brit- 

tleness of Mr. G 's reputation, he was promoted, 

shortly afterwards, to the responsible situation of Colonial 
Treasurer, through the consideration of Governor Douglas. 
But the force of former habits returned to this hero of 
the Divorce Court, though his natural infirmity now 
assumed a new manifestation. His extravagance plunged 
him in debt. When the public ledger was examined, 
a large balance was struck against him, and no satisfac- 
tory account could be given by him of the missing cash. 
He was imprisoned in the common gaol, to await trial for 
embezzlement ; but as the surveillance of the authorities 
over him was not sufficiently strict, he escaped and joined 
one of the contending American armies, in which he 
fell. 



DEFALCATIONS OF OFFICIALS. 399 

At the same dinner-table, that first day of my acquain- 
tance with the city, there was an American doctor who 
had made the sphere of his practice in a neighbouring 
State too hot for him by misconduct. This man, then 
about 40, I found had, up to a few years before, followed 
the humble calling of a barber. There was also present 
a worthy ex-consul of a European nation, who had lost a 
fortune through over-speculation. Next morning I was 
awakened by a Government official of British Columbia 
holloaing to the notorious red-haired gentleman above 
described, whose room was separated from mine by only 
a thin wooden partition, informing him that the law- 
adviser of the Crown for one of the colonies had been 
challenged to a duel by a brother barrister. While 
referring to lawyers, it may be added that the Supreme 
Court in both colonies has several times been disgraced 
by contemptuous badgering of the bench on the part of 
certain members of the bar, calculated to shock all one's 
ideas of judicial dignity. 

The experience of the colonists at this period was 
varied by some excitement connected with the trial of a 
treasury clerk, who had, on the day after my arrival, been 
committed to prison for one year, charged with robbing 
the colonial ' till.' Not long afterwards the postmaster 
absconded, with a considerable amount of public money. 
This official had already earned notoriety as prime mover 
in riots created at Ballarat, in Australia. His course was 
finished, consistently, a couple of years later, at a gam- 
bling-house in Germany, where, becoming inextricably 
involved in ' debts of honour,' he died by his own hand. 
How Governor Douglas could be induced to elevate such 
men to responsible Government situations, it is difficult 
to understand. 

Tired of hotel life, I took up my abode in a respectable 



400 THE UNMARRIED COUPLE. 

family, the lady of which was threatened, as I believe 
unjustly, with prosecution for libel, by another lady 
zealous for her reputation. New quarters soon opened to 
me, where there appeared every reason to hope that the 
atmosphere would be free from the troubles of litigation. 
For a time domestic peace continued unruffled. But one 
day, while at dinner, two policemen came for the purpose 
of searching the premises ; and I can testify that diges- 
tion was not greatly assisted by the process. A fellow- 
boarder was non inventus est, leaving behind him debts to 
a considerable amount. My embarrassment was increased 
by mine host, who was the partner of the defaulter in 
business, being arrested on suspicion of being implicated 
in the fraud ; but he was honourably acquitted. Again 
I felt compelled to beat a retreat. 

It is not uncommon for persons of plausible address 
coming into the colonies, to impose on the public, and 
insinuate themselves into respectable society. But in a 
longer or shorter time, the cloven foot is disclosed, and 
they are obliged to withdraw into obscurity or leave the 
country. 

Two persons I knew something of, passed for a while as 
husband and wife, even with many who were particular 
about the company they kept. At length the gentleman 
went to Cariboo, and during his absence a so-called pro- 
fessional gentleman became so intimate with the lady as 
to call forth severe comment on the nature of the relations 
he sustained to her. After the return of Mr. A— — from 
British Columbia, the door was besieged by the quack. The 
former, who opened to him, was asked by the new suitor 

c if J was at home' — alluding to the supposed wife 

of Mr. A . The latter affected intense indignation 

that his wife should be spoken of by a stranger in so 
familiar a manner. But the doctor, nothing daunted, 



ADVENTURES OF WIDOWS. 401 

reminded Mr. A that he was her rightful owner, as 

she was engaged to be married to him, and had never 
stood in that sacred relation to Mr. A . The pre- 
tended husband, as an American expressed it, 'wilted 
down,' and was obliged, after a residence of some half- 
dozen years under the same roof with his mistress, to 
resign in favour of the partner to whom she was about to 
be legally attached. 

A number of females have found their way into the 
country who give themselves out as widows, without 
being entitled to that sad but honourable designation. 
Some singular coincidences came under my observation, a 
few years since, respecting one of this class. I was in- 
vited to perform the ceremony of marriage between the 
woman in question, who had just come to the country, 
and a settler. Six months afterwards, I received a letter 
from a gentleman of high professional reputation in Eng- 
land, to whose name were appended several learned titles, 
and who presided over one of the most important public 
institutions in London. His object in writing was to 
ascertain the particulars of the marriage referred to, not, 
as he remarked, with a view to throwing any impediment 
in the way, for he assured me the lady (all females are 
known as ladies on this side the world) had not before 
been married. Yet, with his knowledge, she took his 
name, and represented herself as a bereaved wife. The 
facts warranted me in drawing only a conclusion that 
involved dishonour to the parties. 

An evening or two after the receipt of this communi- 
cation, a friend, who had lived in California, called on 
me, and happened casually, in conversation, to review the 
prominent events of early mining days in San Francisco. 
Among other pioneer characters he recalled the lady un- 
der consideration, who was then exhibited, he said, in an 

D D 



402 TERMS OF THE MARRIAGE ACT. 

indecorous manner, in imitation of statuary — a very suc- 
cessful method of obtaining money from vicious men in 
those rude times. The exhibitor of that obscene spectacle 
was not ashamed to be addressed as her husband. The 
name of the man reported by my friend agreed with that 
attached to the letter from England, and the married de- 
signation by which, as a pretended widow, the unhappy 
woman desired to be known. 

An instance of the intriguing disposition of some of 
these nondescript females may be related. It may be 
interesting to some bachelor or maiden readers, who 
contemplate seeking their fortune in this new land, and 
prefer a quiet celebration of their nuptials, to know that 
the Marriage Act of Vancouver Island provides for matri- 
mony being entered upon, if so deemed expedient by 
the lovers, within a brief space after their minds are 
made up on the momentous question of having the knot 
tied. By paying a fee of ten dollars, and making a de- 
claration under oath at Government House that no legal 
impediment exists to the union, the bridegroom can pro- 
cure a special licence under the hand and seal of the 
Governor. On presenting this document to a clergy- 
man or minister, and advancing to him a further sum 
of not less than 11. 2s. 6d., the desired privilege may be 
had. Most candidates for connubial felicity in these colo- 
nies prefer being married in the evening, and in a private 
house. 

A message having come from a Mrs. P , request- 
ing my services at her house in the evening, to unite 
her in matrimony to a lucky miner, I communicated 
to the messenger, for the information of this lady, the law 
on the subject that has just been stated. On reaching 
the house at the hour appointed for the ceremony, I was 
ushered by a servant into a brilliantly-lighted parlour, but 



EXTRAORDINARY WEDDING SCENE. 403 

neither bride, bridegroom,, guest, nor witness to the pro- 
posed transaction was to be seen. In a few moments, the 
rustling of a silk dress in the hall announced that some 
female form was at hand. My suspense was soon relieved 
by a lady coming towards the sofa on which I was seated, 
who impressed me as neither shy nor mirthful. Without 
any attempt at form, she took a seat near me. Having 
no index by her movements what position she was to 
occupy in the business of the evening, I refrained, out of 
regard to propriety, from breaking silence, lest any 
enquiries I might make should appear impertinent. At 
length, looking at me with a lackadaisical stare, she 
said : ' Are you the minister ?' c Yes,' I replied ; ' may I 
take the liberty of asking whether you are the bride ?' 
' I am,' said the lady. ' Then, I presume,' said I, ' that 
your intended husband has procured the special licence, 
and that all your arrangements are made?' ' Who are 
you?' she said with a troubled and half-defiant air. ' Are 
you not a regular minister ? We need no licence in the 
States for this sort of thing !' 'I have simply to say,' said 
I, ' that some one has deceived me. I asked your mes- 
senger explicitly if the necessary sanction of the Governor 
had been obtained, and was answered in the affirmative. 
It is a waste of time and a breach of courtesy to bring 
me here at this late hour, when you know the legal con- 
ditions of your proposed marriage have not been complied 
with.' With emphasis and gesticulation she exclaimed : 
'I must be married to-night! You don't know how 
peculiar the case is. If the thing be not done to-night, it 
may never be. If you only knew what a peculiar man 

my intended husband is . You can make it all right, 

if you like.' Then, coaxingly, she added, as if she thought 
I were only teasing her for a bribe, ' I '11 give you my 
note for a hundred and fifty dollars, if you marry us to- 

I) D 2 



404 CONDUCT OF THE HEROINE. 

night, and you can easily do all the Government wants 
afterwards.' ' I beg your pardon,' said I. ' Unless the 
bridegroom first go through the forms prescribed by the 
Government, any official act done by me is valueless, and 
if the gentleman were to leave you, you could have no 
recourse at law against him. But why does he not come 
and speak for himself? and where are your witnesses ? 
The whole affair is incomprehensible !' ' Yes ; he 's in the 
next room. I '11 send him in ; but he 's a peculiar man.' 

At length the victim whose fate was about to be 
decided was introduced — just the kind of subject whom 
the arts of a designing woman would be likely to fasci- 
nate. He appeared to be embarking in a cause of which 
he was either afraid or ashamed. He expressed his 
willingness to enter into the pending contract ; but every- 
thing about his manner bespoke great reluctance. I 
explained what steps were requisite to be taken to render 
his marriage legal, and promised to wait twenty minutes 
for his return from the office where the licence was to be 
obtained ; assuring him, at the same time, that if he 
wished to postpone the ceremony I would cheerfully re- 
tire. With a sullen gravity, more befitting what related 
to a death-warrant,' he went to procure that which most 
men, on such an occasion, would regard as a harbinger 

o f joy- 
While he had gone, a female friend came into the room, 
followed by the redoubtable heroine of the evening, who 
had in her hand a tray supporting three bumpers of 
champagne, to be drunk, contrary to all precedent, in 
anticipation of the coming event. Eesolved to set my 
face against this innovation upon decorum, I declined to 
accept what was proffered. But the bride, having less 
scrupulousness, imbibed liberally — perhaps in the hope of 
acquiring nerve to bear the ordeal that was before her. 



THE PLOT UNRAVELLED.' 405 

By the time the gentleman returned, she had succeeded in 
attaining a very convivial state ; and, indeed, while the mar- 
riage-service was being read, proved almost incapable of 
standing erect. Her affection for her husband, warmed 
with wine, could not be restrained till the ceremony was 
decently ended. As soon as the act was over, she con- 
soled- the creature she had snared in her toils, by reminding 
him that she had him fast now. 'Faugh !' said the hus- 
band, dreaming of freedom which was no longer his, ' I 
can please myself about that. There 's a steamer for San 
Francisco to-morrow.' 

The next day the plot was unravelled. The lucky miner 
had been introduced to this worthless woman by her 
paramour. This equally bad character had met the dupe 
accidentally at the mines, and arranged with his mistress 
that she should captivate him, and that when she had won 
his love, bets should be exchanged between them, on the 
probabilities of their marriage within so many days. The 
bait took. The gentleman was to lose $1,000 if untrue 
to his engagement, and she the same amount if she should 
alter her mind. Her end, which was to gain money, was 
achieved whichever way his humour might incline. The 
third party referred to, no doubt, realised a large commis- 
sion on the transaction. In a few weeks her husband 
discovered, by proof as disagreeable as it was convincing, 
that her former lover had resumed his place in her heart, 
and he, consequently, was under the painful necessity — 
which was the form in which duty presented itself to him 
at the moment — of blackening the eyes of this scoundrel. 
Within the same period she had exhausted a credit of 
#5,000, placed in the bank for her use. Her husband felt 
compelled to adopt the plan customary in such cases, of 
publishing a notice in the newspapers that he should not 
be any longer responsible for her debts. She replied 



406 YOUNG COLONISTS. 

through the same medium ; and to complete her retaliation, 
and shame him, if possible, into making some pecuniary 
compromise, she announced her appearance at a low 
singing-room. Many 'roughs' went, from curiosity, to 
witness this exhibition. As she seemed disposed neither to 
sing nor dance for their amusement, one fellow shouted 
that ■ they hadn't got the worth of their money.' At this 
remark she hurled a stool at his head, and the company 
separated in confusion. Her course since then need not be 
traced. If clergymen in the country were permitted to 
divorce as well as to marry, it is to be feared they might 
often be invited to undo, in Penelope fashion, at the end 
of the year what they did at the beginning of it. 

Without afflicting righteous minds with more anecdotes 
of this description — though they might be recited by the 
score — it may just be observed, that ' the social evil,' if it 
do not prevail in greater ratio than it does in the parent 
country, at least rears its head more unblushingly, and 
prostitutes are reputed to be the richest of their sex. 
Nor is scandal confined to unmarried or obscure circles 
in the community. 

Single young men, many of them well connected and 
possessing a good education, form a large portion of the 
population. The habits of some indicate them to have 
been ' black sheep ' in the domestic fold at home ; others 
of good reputation are sometimes to be found, who fail 
in success for want of the tact, energy, and endurance 
requisite to conquer the difficulties peculiar to colonial life. 
Others are distinguished by an indomitable spirit that smil- 
ingly breasts the passing wave of misfortune ; they never 
lose an affable and modest bearing, or a regard for integrity, 
under the most trying disappointments, but pursue their 
aims in the unfaltering assurance that victory, though de- 
layed, will eventually reward their struggles. The beams 



TIIEITl TEMPTATIONS AND DANGERS. 407 

of a prosperous future are reflected in the glance of such 
men, and the community instinctively makes way for their 
promotion. 

If, however, there be any vulnerable point in the cha- 
racter of the young and inexperienced colonist, it is cer- 
tain to be hit by the arrow of temptation. It is impossible 
for the imaginative youth, surrounded with the blandish- 
ments of fashionable English life, the associations of the 
Church, the proprieties of the debating club, or the restraints 
of fond relationship, to over-estimate the fiery trial that 
awaits him, when thrown like a fledged bird from the 
maternal nest into the society of strangers, for the most part 
selfish, and interested in the ' greenhorn' only as far as they 
can profit by the attentions they pay him. Should his 
concern for speedily entering on a money-making career 
outweigh that better judgment which compasses its end by 
cautious measures and slow degrees, and looks out first for 
a right start, nothing is more probable than that he will be 
pounced upon by those disguised falcons that are ever on the 
watch for such a quarry. Once persuaded by their sophistry 
that under their counsel he is on the high-road to wealth, 
he will be induced, in his imagined shrewdness, to accom- 
modate himself to their habits, under the impression that 
the flattering compliment he thus shows will have the 
effect of quickening their disinterested zeal in his behalf. 
He complacently argues within himself: ' These persons are 
evidently smart; but how fortunate I am to be smarter 
still, and able to manage them!' The speculation into 
which he has been lured, of course, bursts ; his obliging 
friends ( ! ) have got all they wanted out of him, and he 
is left to console himself as best he can under his losses. 
If of an excitable nature, he is likely to drown his sor- 
rows in something stronger than water. It is, alas ! the 
old and oft-told story. 



408 LEISURE OCCUPATIONS. 

But the picture has a reverse side. Should favourable 
prospects open up, exceeding, as sometimes happens, his 
most sanguine expectations, one of the nervous tempera- 
ment just described might be tempted to find vent for his 
gratification in a symposium, graced by the presence of 
those 'jolly good fellows ' that, like swallows, flutter around 
one in the sunshine of prosperity, but disappear when the 
winter of adversity approaches. Over the mortal remains 
of how many promising characters, wrecked on the shoals 
and reefs against which friendly warning has been given 
above, have I been called to perform sad offices! Many 
still meet one's observation in the streets of Victoria, 
who, unless a merciful Providence interpose, are doomed 
to the drunkard's grave. Frequently have I been delighted 
to see the beneficial change effected by marriage, in arrest- 
ing the progress of dissipation. It is only to be regretted 
that the paucity of respectable females in Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia limits so much the opportunities of 
single men who desire to cultivate domestic virtues, and 
lead sober lives. From a volunteer rifle corps which has 
been organised under encouraging auspices, I anticipate 
much good, in affording the class referred to amusing oc- 
cupation for part of their leisure.* Happy will it be, too, 
for the comfort and morals of young men, when the ' shanty ' 
life, involving the inconvenience of cooking with their 
own hands, and the restaurant, which fosters home feelings 
to even a smaller extent, are more generally displaced by 
lodging-houses, kept by private families, at moderate rates, 
and in the style familiar to clerks and warehousemen in 
England. 

The proximity of the United States to these colonies offers 
special facilities to fraudulent debtors for escaping from jus- 

* I am happy to learn that at length a public reading-room and library 
have been formed in Victoria. 



THE ' SKEDADDLER.' 409 

tice. Washington territory may be rea'ched in a few hours, 
or a passage to California effected in a few days ; and once 
on American soil, the defaulter usually finds no difficulty 
in eluding detection, A curious exception to this rule, 
however, which occurred last year, may not be uninterest- 
ing. 

A Jew brought a lot of jewellery to Victoria, which, for 
a time, he exhibited to the utmost advantage. Finding 
that the Scotch possessed considerable influence in the 
country, he gave himself out as of that nationality — a 
strong German accent notwithstanding. Learning next 
that the Church of England was the leading religious 
body, he invested in a pew and a gilt prayer-book. His 
credit was above suspicion : so he commenced a career 
of reckless speculation ; leased land, built houses, and 
imported goods. Every money-lender in town was ready 
to discount his bills. When due, they were renewed. He 
mortgaged his goods while any were in the store. When 
casks of rum were exhausted, he filled them with treacle 
and water. When bales of dry goods were disposed of, 
he supplied their place with rags. By thus duping accom- 
modating friends, he was enabled to obtain money far be- 
yond the value of the stock mortgaged. At length the crisis 
came. He placed his family safely on board the steamer 
for California. Certain creditors, suspecting that the bird 
was about to take wing, sent the bailiff, armed with a 
capias for his arrest. To avoid his pursuers he put out 
in a small boat, intending to hail the steamer when a few 
miles from land. But this signal was unheeded, and he 
turned the boat's prow to the American side. When the 
news spread the following day, the creditors hired a steam- 
boat and went in search. Beaching Port Townsend after 
dusk they went through the place in quest of their prey. 
During their absence, the runaway walked on board, ima- 



410 INSANITY IN THE COLONIES. 

gining the vessel to be en route for Olympia — a more distant 
American port in Puget Sound. He at once retired to his 
state-room and slept. He was waked an hour or two later 
by a policeman who took him prisoner, and to his utter 
amazement he found himself back in the city whence he 
sought to disappear. 

The intense pitch to which the feelings of people are 
strung in a gold-producing country is a frequent cause of 
insanity. Whether that malady exist in a greater degree 
in this community than in one of a more settled description, 
I am not sufficiently versed in the statistics of the subject 
to aver. But certainly a much larger proportion of cases 
have been personally known to me here than in the same 
period I ever saw in the much denser populations of 
England. I can reckon up eight persons — all of whom I 
have been on speaking terms with, and most of whom I 
knew intimately, who, in four years and a half, have 
become lunatics, and as such are either living or dead. 

There was a quiet and respectable man, about thirty, 
who kept a school in Victoria. He became unmanned by 
pecuniary difficulties, and took leave of friends he had 
been visiting, with unusual seriousness and formality, and 
the same evening attached a rope to the wall of his room, 
thence suspending himself by the neck. Two days after, 
the owner of the apartment went to collect the rent, and cut 
the body down. 

Two other unfortunate persons laboured under the hal- 
lucination that certain friends had conspired to mix 
poison with their food. Another was a medical man, 
who called on me, offering for sale a very old copy of an 
Italian Bible, which he assured me was valued by English 
' book-hunters ' at a hundred pounds ; but being em- 
barrassed he was willing to let me have it for ten pounds. 
Still he never produced the book. The occasion of his 



THE RELIGIOUS MANIAC. 411 

narro.w circumstances was related by him with great 
earnestness and originality. The local Government, he 
said, had a spite against him without any provocation, 
and employed some Chinamen to annoy him by invisible 
agency. This consisted of a projectile which could be 
darted through the air at any distance. It was impercep- 
tible to natural vision, but by an affinity established be- 
tween it and a pimple at the back of the doctor's head, 
it went straight from the hand which threw it to that 
object. The result of this contact was that, according to 
his testimony, he was invariably brought down, wherever 
he might be, unless already in a reclining posture. He 
went into a learned explanation of the invention of this 
subtle and dangerous weapon, ascribed by him to the 
combined genius of a Jesuit priest and a Chinaman, who 
together brought it to light in the reign of Henry VII. 
The influence, however, which turned the doctor from a 
perpendicular to a horizontal position, I fear, answers 
more correctly to the slang description of Americans : 
f Chain-lightning, warranted to kill at 100 yards.' Anglice, 
< grog.' 

Another gentleman, formerly a parish schoolmaster in 
Scotland, and respectably educated at a Scotch university, 
fell a prey to mental aberration. Having often felt inter- 
ested in his conversation on metaphysical subjects, of which 
he was passionately fond, my sense of sorrow may be 
judged of on visiting him, after he showed signs of mad- 
ness, in the common gaol — the only place at present appro- 
priated for lunatics in Victoria. Now his form was bent, 
his features haggard, his mouth awry, and his speech a 
loud, incessant, and incoherent jabber. 

Perhaps the most interesting case of this kind that came 
under my notice was that of a religious maniac. Upon 
every point but one he appeared sane. His ruling idea was, 



412 SOCIAL PYRAMID INVERTED. 

that the Almighty had revealed to him the vision, of a 
spiritual and united kingdom to arise from the ruins of the 
dismembered republic of America. The Saviour was to be 
the acknowledged head, and preside in person over its 
destinies. He believed himself to have been divinely 
inspired, and infallibly directed in preparing a national 
emblem for the new empire. Under the power of this 
afflatus, he felt called upon to employ the services of the 
best professional draughtsman he could command, to sketch 
the proposed design, and other artists were enlisted, at great 
expense, to execute it. I have but a faint remembrance 
of a lamb, a dove, and some words of Scripture being 
inscribed upon the flag. But the devout enthusiast told 
me that he had placed the standard of the Heavenly King 
in safe keeping, confident that, ere long, He would descend, 
take it from its place of custody, and proclaim his reign ! 

In so small a town, it is astonishing from how many 
parts of the world information converges as to a focus. 
Within a few hours I have met in the streets of Victoria 
persons who had respectively crossed the Andes, ascended 
Mont Blanc, fought in the Crimea, explored the North- 
West passage, seen Pekin, ransacked Mexican antiquities, 
lived on the coast of Africa, formed part of Walker's band 
of filibusters, made a pilgrimage to the Nile and Palestine, 
revelled in the luxuries of India, witnessed Sepoys blown 
away from British guns, wintered in Petersburg, en- 
gaged in buffalo hunts on the great prairies of North 
America, seen Napoleon L, been old friends of Napoleon 
III., or educated at the same school with the Princess of 
Wales. 

The immigrant accustomed to the distinctions of class 
obtaining in settled populations of the old world, will be 
struck to observe how completely the social pyramid is 
inverted in the colonies. Many persons of birth and 



OXFORD MEN EOUGHING IT. 413 

education, but of reduced means, are compelled, for a 
time after their arrival, to struggle with hardship, while 
the vulgar, who have but recently acquired wealth, are 
arrayed in soft clothing and fare sumptuously. Sons of 
admirals and daughters of clergymen are sometimes found 
in abject circumstances, while men only versed in the art 
of wielding the butcher's knife, the drayman's whip, and 
the blacksmith's hammer, or women of low degree, have 
made fortunes. The most ludicrous example of these 
social transpositions with which I am acquainted, relates 
to a gentleman and his man-servant, who came out to- 
gether in the same ship. The hireling having quarrelled 
with his master, resigned his situation, applied for em- 
ployment in the police-force, and was accepted. The first 
subject on whom he found an opportunity of practising 
officially after he was appointed, happened to be his 
former master. That unfortunate gentleman laid himself 
open to the suspicion of being ' drunk and disorderly,' 
and was immediately taken in charge by the individual 
who had been wont to serve him. 

Oxford and Cambridge men, arriving with light pockets 
and inflated expectations, I have seen brought to the ne- 
cessity of working on the roads. One respectable ex-mis- 
sionary to China I heard of, who earned his bread, for a few 
months after landing, as cook in a third-rate eating-house ; 
and a ' valued correspondent ' of ' Household Words,' I 
remember to have filled a similar office. One clergyman 
of the Church of England visited me for the purpose of 
obtaining work in a copper-mine, to the directors of which 
he desired that I should recommend him ; and another, 
also from England, went to the gold-mines of British 
Columbia, to supplement the scanty savings he had been 
enabled to lay by from the income of the curacy he had 
left. Probably these quondam priests now rejoice in 



414 SOCIETY IN THE INTERIOR. 

incognitos considerably less euphonious than their family 
names. If any delicacy is shown by men at the diggings 
in regard to disclosing their real names, no impudent 
questions are asked on the subject ; but a name is 
extemporised by the miners, arising out of some eccentri- 
city of person or character, some notable expression at 
any time uttered by the individual, or event that may 
have occurred in his experience. 

If a man seems educated, the company in which he 
may be working or travelling, in ignorance of his true 
appellation, will usually designate him by the laconic title 
of t doc,' for doctor, or ' cap,' for captain. If tall, his 
accociates, should his family-name be not forthcoming, may 
dub him ' Big Bill.' Should he have a weakness for fre- 
quently referring to some town, creek, or country from 
which he has come, he may expect to have the name of 
the place united with his own, such as ' Eattlesnake Jack,' 
' Oregon Bob,' &c. A gentleman who was fond of dis- 
playing an array of initials before and titles after his 
name was significantly called Alphabet M'D . 

Druggists inform me that the demand for hair-dye by 
immigrants is so large as to be quite noticeable. The 
cause of this expedient, in such a country, may be readily 
conjectured. 

Society in the interior is very depraved. In Yale, 
Douglas, Lytton, Lilloet, Forks of Quesnelle, and the 
mining towns, little trace of Sunday is at present visible, 
except in the resort of miners on that day to market for 
provisions, washing of dirty clothes, repairing machinery, 
gambling, and dissipation. Out of the 5,000 souls in Vic- 
toria, a few may be found who respect the ordinances of 
religion. But at the mines, adherents of religious bodies 
have hitherto been numbered by scores and units.* 

* Of course, more general and punctual observance of religious duties 
must follow the annual increase and settlement of the mining population. 



SLANG IN VOGUE. 415 

Up to the present there have been but two places of wor- 
ship in Cariboo — one connected with the Church of Eng- 
land, and the other with the Wesleyan Methodists. Till the 
fall of 1863, when these were built, the services of public 
worship were conducted in a bar-room and billiard-saloon. 
At one end of the apartment was the clergyman, with his 
small congregation, and at the other were desperadoes, 
collected unblushingly around the faro or pokah table, 
staking the earnings of the preceding week. 

Profane language is almost universal, and is employed 
with diabolical ingenuity. The names of ' Jesus Christ' 
and the c Almighty ' are introduced in most blasphemous 
connections. Going to church is known among many as 
4 the religious dodge,' which is said to be ' played out,' or, 
in other words, a superstition which has ceased to have 
any interest for enlightened members of society. 

A saloon-keeper, in one of the up-country towns, find- 
ing that business had been dull in his establishment during 
the previous week, and hearing the sound of the church- 
going bell one Sunday evening, was seized with an erratic 
wish to attend Divine service, under the impression that, 
possibly, the policy he had resolved upon might have the 
effect of improving his liquor traffic. Anxious for sympathy 
in the good work, he thus addressed a number of miners 
that were lounging on the premises : ' Come, boys ; business 
has been flat this last week ; we must try the religious 
dodge to-night ; every man that's willing to go to church, 
come up to the bar and take a drink.' This novel and 
tempting premium had the result desired. 

The slang in vogue in the mining regions is imported 
mainly from California, and is often as expressive as it is 
original. ' Guessing ' and ' calculating ' are exercises of 
perpetual occurrence. If one have the best of a bargain, 
he is said to have got ' the dead wood ' on the other party 



416 E.1NDHEAETEDNESS OF MINEKS. 

in the transaction. A mean and greedy man is ' on the 
make ; ' and where a ' claim ' is to be disposed of, the pro- 
prietor is ' on the sell.' A conceited man thinks himself 
' some pumpkins ; ' and when any statement is made, the 
exact truth of which is doubted, it is said to be 'rayther 
a tallstory.' When a claim disappoints the hopes of those 
interested in it, it has 'fizzled out.' Credit is 'jaw-bone;' 
and in one store on the road to Cariboo, the full-sized 
jaw-bone of a horse is polished, and suspended on the 
wall, with the words written under : ' None of this 
allowed here.' The ground of the allusion is evident, 
the product resulting from the motion of the jaw being 
the only security a needy purchaser has to offer. Another 
expression for wanting credit is s shooting off the face.' 
Deceit in business is ' shananigan.' A good road, steam- 
boat, plough, dinner, or anything else you please, is 
'elegant.' When one has run off to avoid paying his 
debts, he has ' skedaddled,' or ' vamoosed the ranch ;' or 
if hard-up, he wants to ' make a raise.' Owing to the 
remoteness of British Columbia from other centres of 
British population, it is called the ' jumping-off place ' — 
another phrase for the end of the world. Any issue 
likely to arise from a given chain of events, is seen 'stick- 
ing out.' When two parties are playing into each other's 
hands, with a sinister object in view, it is a case of ' log- 
rolling.' When the conduct of any one renders him liable 
to a whipping or something worse, he is ' spotted.' 

Among the roughest of professional miners, exhibi- 
tions of kindness occur fitted to shame many of more 
moral pretensions. As a class, they are not avaricious. It 
is not so much the possessing of money, as the excitement 
attending the acquisition of it, that affords them satisfac- 
tion. It were more conducive to their welfare could 
they be induced to cultivate more thrifty habits. If the 



STATE OF BELIGIOK 417 

patronage they recklessly bestow upon public-houses were 
withdrawn, and the vast sums thus squandered diverted 
into productive channels, the spirit of legitimate enter- 
prise would be fostered, and the resources of the country 
be more rapidly developed. 

The sentiment of 4 pure and undefiled religion ' does 
not flourish at present in the colonies. In the Protestant 
world on the Pacific coast, the religious sect to which a 
man is attached may commonly be determined by the extent 
of his business. Small retailers and mechanics swarm 
among the Methodists ; jobbers, who break packages, and 
the larger class of store-keepers, frequent the Presbyte- 
rian and Congregational chapels ; and the bankers, lawyers, 
and wholesale dealers prefer the Church of England. Just 
as with their augmented resources they erect comfortable 
houses, so they seek to provide themselves with a church 
suited to their advanced social position. The utilitarian 
tendencies of the people are such, that eloquent or spiri- 
tual preaching by itself will not attract worshippers. 
Their comfort must be consulted, as it respects the place of 
worship erected, and their emotions must be appealed to 
through the medium of an organ and an efficient choir. 

Eeligious scepticism prevails to a remarkable extent, 
as it does in all new countries. I have known cases in 
which Christian pastors have been turned away from the 
bedside of the dying colonist, and forbidden by him either 
to offer prayer to Almighty God for his restoration to 
health, or administer the consolations of the Gospel. But 
I trust such cases of extreme obduracy are not common. 

Some of the objections I have encountered against 
Christianity are as absurd as they are profane. An old 
English boor, when conversing with me on the Christian 
faith, remarked, ' Jesus Christ was a very good fellow, 
but he was an Indian ! ' On inquiring what proof he had 

E E 



418 miners' ten commandments. 

for so extraordinary a statement, he deliberately took 
down an atlas from the shelf, to show that, as the Saviour 
was born within so many degrees of the line, He must 
belong to the coloured race ! Another settler more intel- 
ligent than the former, when expressing regret to me on 
account of moral infirmities, gravely laid the blame of 
these on the unfortunate shape of his head. 

In a country where so many are governed by impulse, 
and rendered desperate by losses sustained in speculation, 
it is not surprising that instances of highway robbery and 
murder should occasionally happen. The commission of 
these crimes, however, as in California and Australia, has 
been hitherto confined to solitary intervals, between the 
towns of British Columbia, on the way to the mines. The 
proportion of crime, at present, is decidedly small, con- 
sidering the character and number of the population. 

A comprehensive view of the virtues and the vices of 
mining life may be had from the following composition. 
The advice imparted is wholesome, and conveyed in 
technical phraseology, which every miner can understand, 
though the form in which the 'commandments' are thrown 
is made to resemble the decalogue with unnecessary and 
profane exactness. 



A man spake these words, and said : I am a miner, who 
wandered from 'away down east,' and came to sojourn in a strange 
land, and e see the elephant.' And behold I saw him, and bear 
witness, that from the key of his trunk to the end of his tail, 
his whole body has passed before me ; and I followed him until 
his huge feet stood still before a clapboard shanty ; then with 
his trunk extended, he pointed to a candle-card tacked upon a 
shingle, as though he would say s read,' and I read the 

Miners' Ten Commandments. 

I. Thou shalt have no other claim than one. 

II. Thou shalt not make unto thyself any false claim, or any 



MINEKS' TEN COMMANDMENTS. 419 

likeness to a mean man, by jumping one ; whatever thou hndest 
on the top above, or on the rock beneath, or in a crevice under- 
neath the rock ; — or I will visit the miners around to invite 
them on my side ; and when they decide against thee, thou shalt 
take thy pick and thy pan, thy shovel and thy blankets, with all 
that thou hast, and i go prospecting ' to seek good diggings ; 
but thou shalt find none. Then, when thou hast returned, in 
sorrow shalt thou find that thine old claim is worked out, and yet 
no pile made thee to hide in the ground, or in an old boot be- 
neath thy bunk, or in buckskin or bottle underneath thy cabin ; 
but hast paid all that was in thy purse away, worn out thy boots 
and thy garments, so that there is nothing good about them but 
the pockets, and thy patience is likened unto thy garments ; and 
at last thou shalt hire thy body out to make thy board and save 
thy bacon. 

III. Thou shalt not go prospecting before thy claim gives out. 
Neither shalt thou take thy money, nor thy gold-dust, nor thy 
good name, to the gaming table in vain ; for monte, twenty-one, 
roulette, faro, lansquenet and poker, will prove to thee that the 
more thou puttest down the less thou shalt take up ; and when 
thou thinkest of thy wife and children, thou shalt not hold thy- 
self guiltless — but insane. 

IV. Thou shalt not remember what thy friends do at home on 
the Sabbath day, lest the remembrance may not compare favour- 
ably with what thou doest here. — Six days thou may est dig or pick 
all that thy body can stand under ; but the other day is Sunday ; 
yet thou washest all thy dirty shirts, darnest all thy stockings, tap- 
pest thy boots, mendest thy clothing, choppest thy whole week's 
firewood, makest up and bakest thy bread, and boilest thy pork 
and beans, that thou wait not when thou returnest from thy 
long-torn weary. For in six days' labour only thou canst not 
work enough to wear out thy body in two years ; but if thou 
workest hard on Sunday also, thou canst do it in six months; 
and thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy male friend and thy 
female friend, thy morals and thy conscience, be none the better 
for it, but reproach thee shouldst thou ever return with thy 
worn-out body to thy mother's fireside ; and thou shalt not strive 

E E 2 



420 miners' ten commandments. 

to justify thyself, because the trader and the blacksmith, the 
carpenter and the merchant, the tailors, Jews and buccaneers, 
defy God and civilization, by keeping not the Sabbath day, nor 
wish for a day of rest, such as memory, youth, and home made 
hallowed. 

V. Thou shalt not think more of all thy gold, and how thou 
canst make it fastest, than how thou wilt enjoy it, after thou 
hast ridden rough-shod over thy good old parents' precepts and 
examples, that thou mayest have nothing to reproach and sting 
thee, when thou art left alone in the land where thy father's 
blessing and thy mother's love hath sent thee. 

VI. Thou shalt not kill thy body by working in the rain, even 
though thou shalt make enough to buy physic and attendance 
with. Neither shalt thou kill thy neighbour's body in a duel ; 
for by ' keeping cool,' thou canst save his life and thy consci- 
ence. Neither shalt thou destroy thyself by getting e tight,' 
nor ' slewed,' nor 'high,' nor ( corned,' nor 'half-seas over,' 
nor ' three sheets in the wind,' by drinking smoothly down — 
< brandy slings,' ' gin cocktails,' ' whisky punches,' e rum tod- 
dies,' nor 6 egg nogs.' Neither shalt thou suck ( mint juleps,' 
nor ( sherry cobblers,' through a straw ; nor gurgle from a bottle 
the ( raw material,' nor ' take it neat ' from a decanter ; for 
while thou art swallowing down thy purse, and thy coat from off 
thy back, thou art burning the coat from off thy stomach ; and, 
if thou couldst see the houses and lands, and gold-dust, and 
home comforts already lying there — ' a huge pile ' — thou shouldst 
feel a choking in thy throat ; and when to that thou addest thy 
crooked walkings and hiccuping talkings, of lodgings in the gut- 
ter, of broilings in the sun, of prospect-holes half full of water, 
and of shafts and ditches, from which thou hast emerged like a 
drowned rat, thou wilt feel disgusted with thyself and enquire, 
'Is thy servant a dog that he doeth these things?' verily I will 
say, farewell, old bottle, I will kiss thy gurgling lips no more. 
And thou, slings, cocktails, punches, smashes, cobblers, nogs, tod- 
dies, sangarees, and juleps, for ever farewell ; thy remembrance 
shames me ; henceforth ' I cut thy acquaintance,' and headaches, 
tremblings, heart-burnings, blue devils, and all the unholy cata- 
logue of evils that follow in thy train. My wife's smiles and 



miners' ten commandments. 421 

my children's merry-hearted laugh shall charm and reward me 
for having the manly firmness and courage to say no. I wish 
thee an eternal farewell. 

VII. Thou shalt not grow discouraged, nor think of going 
home before thou hast made thy f pile,' because thou hast not 
4 struck a lead,' nor found a ' rich crevice,' nor sunk a hole 
upon a c pocket,' lest in going home thou shalt leave four dol- 
lars a day, and go to work, ashamed, at fifty cents, and serve thee 
right ; for thou knowest by staying here, thou mightest strike a 
lead and fifty dollars a day, and keep thy manly self-respect, and 
then go home with enough to make thyself and others happy. 

VIII. Thou shalt not steal a pick, or a shovel, or a pan from 
thy fellow-miner; nor take away his tools without his leave, 
nor borrow those he cannot spare, nor return them broken, nor 
trouble him to fetch them back again, nor talk with him while 
his water-rent is running on, nor remove his stake to enlarge 
thy claim, or undermine his bank in following a lead, nor pan out 
gold from his ( riffle box,' nor wash the ' tailings ' from his 
sluice's mouth. Neither shalt thou pick out specimens from the 
company's pan to put them in thy mouth, or in thy purse ; nor 
cheat thy partner of his share : nor steal from thy cabin-mate 
his gold-dust, to add to thine ; for he will be sure to discover 
what thou hast done, and will straightway call his fellow-miners 
together, and if the law hinder them not, they will hang thee, 
or give thee fifty lashes, or shave thy head and brand thee like 
a horse-thief, with e E' upon thy cheek, to be known and read 
of all men, Californians in particular. 

IX. Thou shalt not tell any false tales about ' good diggings 
in the mountains ' to thy neighbour, that thou mayest benefit a 
friend who hath mules, and provisions, and tools, and blankets, 
he cannot sell, — lest in deceiving thy neighbour, when he return- 
eth through the snow with nought save his rifle, he present thee 
with the contents thereof, and, like a dog, thou shalt fall down 
and die. 

X. Thou shalt not commit unsuitable matrimony, nor covet 
'single blessedness;' nor forget absent maidens; nor neglect 
thy ( first love;' but thou shalt consider how faithfully and pa- 
tiently she awaiteth thy return ; yea, and covereth each epistle 



422 MINEKS' TEN COMMANDMENTS. 

that thou sendest with kisses of kindly welcome — until she hath 
thyself. Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's wife, nor trifle 
with the affections of his daughter ; yet, if thy heart be free, 
and thou dost love and covet each other, thou shalt ' pop the 
question ' like a man, lest another, more manly than thou art, 
should step in before thee, and thou love her in vain, and, in the 
anguish of thy heart's disappointment, thou shalt quote the lan- 
guage of the great, and say, ' Sich is life ;' and thy future lot be 
that of a poor, lonely, despised, and comfortless bachelor. 

A new commandment I give unto thee — If thou hast a wife 
and little ones, that thou lovest dearer than thy life, — that thou 
keep them continually before thee, to cheer and urge thee on- 
ward, until thou canst say, e I have enough — Grod bless them ! — 
I will return.' Then, as thou journey est towards thy much-loved 
home, with open arms shall they come forth to welcome thee, 
and, falling upon thy neck, weep tears of unutterable joy that 
thou art come ; then in the fulness of thy heart's gratitude, thou 
shalt kneel together before thy Heavenly Father, to thank Him 
for thy safe return. AMEN — So mote it be. 



423 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

THE INDIANS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

Theories as to their Origin — Their probable Migration from Asia — Names 
and Occupations of Tribes — Their Ideas of Rank — The t Potlatch ' — Feasts 
— Dramatic Exhibitions — Mysteries of ' Kluqolla ' — Election of a ' Medi- 
cine Man' — Cannibals — Converse with the Man in the Moon — Doctors 
and the Healing Art — Incantation — Witchcraft — Ideas of Beauty — 
Treating for Peace — An Indian Village — Gambling — Heraldry — Credulity 
— Courtship and Marriage — Sepulture — Burning the Dead — Catching 
Grasshoppers— Rain-making — Tradition of the Creation — The Yale and 
Ms Doings — The Flood — The Sim-moquis — Theory of Thunder and 
Lightning — Religious Beliefs of the Fishing Tribes — Treachery and 
Bloodthirstiness of the Indians — Massacres of Whites — Exciting Encounter 
of Sir J. Douglas — Catholic Missions to the Natives — The Sign of the 
Cross — Awkward Predicament of Bishop Hills — Papal ' Self-interpreting 
Bible ' — Protestant Mission to the Tchimseans — Good Work of Mr. 
Duncan — The Opposition of Medicine Parties — Establishment of Met-la- 
kat-lah — Treatment of Unreformed ' Tillicums ' — Government and Pro- 
sperity of the Native Settlement — Ingenuity of the Tribes — Civilisation 
and Evangelisation should go hand in hand — Rapid Diminution and 
threatened Extinction of Primitive Tribes — Races not likely to disappear 
have the first Claim upon Missionaries — Chances of a barbarous People 
surviving. 

The origin of the aborigines of America is enveloped in 
impenetrable mystery. Learned and ingenious conjec- 
tures innumerable have been advanced on the subject. 
But, as in other speculative enquiries where correct data 
are unattainable, ethnologists and antiquaries have arrived 
at conflicting deductions, and only rendered more obvious 
the perplexing and uncertain nature of their investigations. 
Writers of a theological bias have maintained the theory 
that the Indians are of Jewish origin, — supposing them 



424 THEORIES AS TO THE 

to be descendants of that portion of the Hebrews known 
as the lost tribes. Deriving assistance from this opinion, 
Joseph Smith succeeded in fabricating the Mormon im- 
posture ; and duped his credulous followers by the alle- 
gation that the Latter-day Saint Bible was a transcript of 
certain buried documents, which he had discovered, con- 
taining authentic records of the Divine will. These, he 
asserted, had been transmitted to the primitive inhabit- 
ants of the Western Continent by their Hebrew ancestors, 
and brought to the country when the former emigrated 
from the East. 

In the * Letters ' of Catlin, and especially in the refer- 
ence of that writer to the Indians west of the Mississippi, 
this view of the origin of the red man is advocated. In 
support of it, resemblances between some North American 
tribes and the ancient Jews in modes of worship, feasts, 
sacrifices, fasts, traditions, language, and other ceremonies 
of separation and purification, are particularly pointed to. 
But the comparative tables of the philologist will enable 
any one who is ambitious of framing hypotheses on such 
a question to find as many analogies as he may desire, and 
to unite in a common origin races now the most divergent 
from one another. Arguments, consequently, which prove 
too much, are irrelevant. The Greeks, as depicted by 
Homer, present correspondences, in manners and customs, 
with the Jews of Scripture History far more remarkable 
than those which the defenders of this view of Indian 
origin have adduced as existing between the two last- 
mentioned races. There is no more reason for identify- 
ing the Indians with the Hebrews than with the Egyptians 
or the Celts. Similarity in general characteristics may be 
distinguished between the primitive inhabitants of the 
Eastern and Western Hemispheres, but on these we simply 



ORIGIN OF THE RED MAN. 425 

ground the probable unity of mankind as proceeding from 
a single pair. 

The notion has been propounded by others that the 
Phoenicians or Carthagenians crossed the Atlantic and 
founded colonies in America. As this view, however, is 
sustained by no considerations pretending to weight, it 
may be dismissed without further mention. 

Some have attempted to solve this difficult problem by 
conceiving the probability of the Eastern and Western 
Continents being once undivided by the ocean. It is 
alleged that before the great severance by the depression 
of the land or the eruption of the sea occurred, the 
Indian race emigrated from the one section of the globe 
to the other. But this view seems beset by greater 
difficulties than those it undertakes to remove. 

An opinion obtains among a certain class of savans 
which assigns to animal races indigenous to the various 
latitudes of the globe a plurality of origins, as plants are 
believed to have. It is argued that while all varieties 
in the vegetable kingdom follow a general fixed type in 
being composed of stem and branches, yet each zone of 
the earth contains a species originally peculiar to itself, — 
thus precluding the possibility of so many diversities of 
vegetable form and colour proceeding from one common 
primeval seed. It is affirmed that no good scientific 
reason exists for departing from this theory in regard to the 
distribution of animals, not excepting man, whose origin is 
said to be necessarily included in the issues of the analogy. 
The lion and tiger of equatorial Africa, we are told, differ 
in colour and other respects from the creatures known by 
the same names in the northern parts of India. 

No clue can be found to their descent from original 
pairs of their respective kinds, nor are there any signs of 



426 ARGUMENT FROM 

the different species having migrated from a common 
centre. The inference, therefore, is supposed to be in- 
evitable, that animals naturally peculiar to a certain lati- 
tude have spontaneously arisen like the plants indigenous to 
the same region. It is admitted that beyond this general 
principle of creation, science can reveal nothing on the 
subject, and that the rationale of certain forms of life 
being uniformly evolved from specific germs is wrapt in 
a cloud of impenetrable mystery. The bearing of this 
speculation upon the origin of the different races of man- 
kind will be obvious. Like diverse species of plants and 
of other animals, men, it is maintained, while one over all 
the world in the essential characteristics that go to dis- 
tinguish them as one genus > owe their origin, as specific 
races, to the action of heat and moisture upon primal ova 
mysteriously deposited by the Almighty in the earth. 
But, apart altogether from any religious tradition of the 
origin of man from a single pair, the hypothesis that has 
just been stated will be found quite inadequate to account 
for all the facts connected with human development. The 
traditions of the Indians themselves emphatically contra- 
dict this ingenious history of their primary occupation of 
the Western Continent. 

The opinion which seems most in harmony with 
linguistic analogies and Indian traditions prevailing on the 
North American shores of the Pacific is, that the abori- 
gines are of Asiatic origin, and migrated from the Eastern 
Continent across Behring's Straits, the Aleutian and Kodiac 
Islands. The Indians of the interior represent their 
ancestors as having been formerly resident in North- 
Western America, and many of the present natives of 
Vancouver Island state that their progenitors in remote 
ages first landed at Sooke, — a district situated in the 
southern part of the colony. 



LINGUISTIC ANALOGIES. 427 

There is as much reason to believe that America was 
peopled from Asia as that the primitive races of Europe 
and Africa should derive their origin from an eastern 
source. A gentleman who has lived among the Indians 
on the Pacific coast for nearly twenty years, and is fami- 
liar with several of their dialects, gives it as his convic- 
tion, based on extensive observation, that the languages 
of the aborigines of British Columbia, Vancouver Island, 
Eussian America, and the Kodiac Islands, gradually merge 
into one another, and that a similar tendency to the 
gradually blending of Indians and Mongolians in facial 
characteristics is perceptible in the same direction. I 
have had no opportunity of verifying this statement, — 
but could it be substantiated by systematic investigation, 
the settlement of the question of Indian origin would be 
greatly accelerated. No object more interesting could be 
proposed to modern scientific research, and should the 
undertaking be attended with the success anticipated, an 
important accession to the accumulating evidence in 
favour of the common origin of mankind would thus be 
supplied. Mr. Max Muller has clearly demonstrated the 
centralization of the languages of the Eastern Continent 
in the Aryan original ; and Sir Charles Lyell — notwith- 
standing his manifest sympathies with the views of such 
comparative anatomists as Darwin and Huxley, who 
seem disposed to doubt the commonly-received doctrine 
of descent from a single human pair — frankly admits that 
that theory of the origin of our race is at least as satis- 
factory as any other that has been advanced. But let the 
aboriginal languages of the Western Continent be shown 
to converge towards the Aryan centre, and there is no 
more essential proof of the unity of the human family left 
to be desired. Philological and ethnological explorations 
in Africa and Polynesia might then be prosecuted at 



428 TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF THE TRIBES. 

leisure. The results of these would unquestionably be 
valuable ; but the main question having thus been pre- 
viously set at rest, they might be viewed only as con- 
firmatory of conclusions already established. 

Without minutely classifying the primitive races of 
these colonies according to their different ' nations,' it may 
be mentioned generally that the tribes which occupy 
Vancouver Island are called Nootka Columbians. This 
designation includes all the tribes on the coast of the 
mainland as far as the Columbia Eiver. The fishing 
tribes^ who inhabit the coast — as is found to be the case 
with races residing on the seaboard of Africa, China, and 
India — are marked by a physique inferior to that pos- 
sessed by the hunting tribes of the interior. The former 
are stunted and move with a lazy waddling gait ; and this 
peculiarity is acquired by the sitting posture to which they 
are habituated in their canoes, while the active life culti- 
vated by the latter in the chase imparts to them an erect 
bearing. 

Scarcely two authorities are agreed respecting the pre- 
cise territorial limits of tribes dwelling in British Columbia. 
Some writers have regarded the entire number of natives 
occupying this colony as consisting of two great nations ; 
the Takali or Carriers in the north, and the Atnahs or 
Shuswaps further south. Some have divided them into 
Chilicoatens, Kuzlakes, Naskoatens, Talkoatens, and At- 
nahs or Chin Indians. / Others have designated them by 
still different names, or assigned them boundaries widely 
diverse. Indeed, the Indian notions on the subject are 
quite as crude and indefinite as those of the whites. Nor 
is it at all a matter of practical moment, since in addressing 
these races it will be found a sufficient lingual attain- 
ment to have mastered the terms ' Si wash ' and ' Clootch- 
man,' these being well understood by all, and as likely 



TESTS OF RANK. 429 

to insure attention as words expressive of individual or 
national identity. 

The natives on the east side of Vancouver Island, Queen 
Charlotte Island, and British Columbia are estimated at 
30,000 ; the ratio of their natural increase, however, being 
on the decline. This process of diminution is especially 
remarkable in lodges contiguous to white settlements. 

Each village or tribe is governed by a ' Tyhee ' or 
chief, whose authority, though somewhat arbitrary, does 
not seem to be very extensive or well defined, being as 
much dependent on personal prowess and wealth as on 
any fixed rules or hereditary rights. The amount of 
property possessed by these Sagamores, such as canoes, 
horses, blankets, guns, wives, slaves, &c, mostly deter- 
mines the extent of their influence and consequent autho- 
rity, not only with their own people, but also with their 
neighbours. By the same rule is measured the degree of 
honour to be awarded them after death. Besides these 
leading men, there are Sitkum Tyhees, or half chiefs, who 
as vassals aid the principals in the discharge of their 
duties, or act for them in their absence. 

The natives judge of rank by two tests in particular — 
the number of scalps and slaves taken in battle, and the 
amount of property accumulated. The latter symbol of 
power is eagerly coveted by them ; and as blankets have 
come generally to be the chief representation of wealth, 
these are accumulated against the recurrence of the feasts 
of the tribe, when an opportunity is afforded of dis- 
playing the extent of individual resources. The princi- 
pal motive to the acquisition of property by the Indian 
is not, as among whites, that the owner may become 
surrounded with conveniences and luxuries, or that he 
may obtain credit among his neighbours for possessing so 
much during life, and bequeath his means to heirs at his 



430 THE POTLATCH. 

decease, but that he may enjoy the satisfaction of lavish- 
ing presents upon the members of friendly tribes on 
the occasions just mentioned, and of being admired by 
the recipients. 

Festive ceremonies are held for the purpose of celebrat- 
ing some auspicious event that may have happened to a 
chief ; giving vent to their joy at the commencement of 
the salmon season, or of the new year. The Songhish 
tribe, resident near Victoria, hold a general merry-making 
annually in the month of October, when singular customs 
are practised, of which the indiscriminate distribution of 
property is not the least prominent. For days beforehand 
invited guests come in their canoes, sometimes hundreds 
of miles, to be present. The sound of revelry is unceas- 
ing in the encampment. Bum, rice, molasses, and the 
Indian delicacies of the season, such as venison, fish, ber- 
ries, and grease, circulate in profusion among the congre- 
gated multitude at the expense of the chief and Tenass 
Tyhees of the neighbourhood. The potlatch (or ceremony 
of bestowing gifts) usually occupies a couple of days, and is 
conducted in a similarly uproarious manner. It is worthy 
to be remarked, that Indians of the same denomination 
or crest are not in the habit of sharing in the interchange 
of gifts. I use the latter expression advisedly, for in 
making a present an Indian expects a reciprocation of 
the favour to an equal value at the next feast, and, failing 
the realisation of his wishes, he does not hesitate to 
demand his gift back again. 

The business of the first day consists in listening to 
speeches of the feast from those who have extensive pro- 
perty to give away. These are ostentatious relations of the 
costliness of the articles to be disposed of, and of the senti- 
ments of regard for the guests which is professedly enter- 
tained. Previous to thepotlatch,th.e gifts to be presented are 



OTHER FEASTS. 431 

publicly exhibited, to impress the multitude with a due 
sense of the opulence and munificence of the donor. 
Cotton cloths by hundreds of yards, blankets to the value of 
hundreds of pounds, and the rarest furs, are spread out 
for inspection, and then given away in succession. In 
some instances, blankets are torn up in narrow strips, and 
the pieces scrambled for by the spectators. I remember 
a female slave to have changed hands in this compliment- 
ary way at the Songhish feast held in '63. No example 
of the chartist principles of ' equality and fraternity ' 
could be more interesting and complete. Once every 
year the individuals of the tribe start, even, in point of 
substance ; but it is unfortunate for the practical exempli- 
fication of the revolutionary theory referred to — as far as 
the Indians are concerned — that those who are rich and 
poor respectively at one feast are almost invariably found 
in the same category at the next. In a commercial as- 
pect, too, this system of potlatching is highly objectionable, 
for the goods thus transferred from year to year are not 
appropriated for the most part to useful purposes ; neither 
is there any stimulus given to the development of pro- 
fitable trade in the transaction. 

Feasts are often given by individual chiefs (male and 
female) on a less magnificent scale. Sometimes a female 
chief will entertain a large number of men, and on other 
occasions a male chief will invite a party of female guests 
to share his hospitality. To enumerate the grotesque 
antics prevalent on these gala occasions would be a tax 
on the patience of the reader. The use of pigments and 
masks representing the faces of various animals ; head- 
dresses composed of fur, feathers, ribbons, and mother-of- 
pearl in every imaginable arrangement ; robes adorned 
with beads and buttons : these are among the articles of 
festal attire. 



432 DEAMATIC EXHIBITIONS. 

Dramatic exhibitions form part of their amusements, 
the comic as well as the tragic muse being invoked by 
them. But the acting, as far as I have been able to 
ascertain, is generally of the solo character. Heroic 
deeds of ancestral chiefs are recounted, and words of the 
departed are repeated with considerable gesticulation, the 
assembly interposing some kind of chanted chorus, handed 
down from sire to sire for ages. 

In passing the Indian quarters one winter evening at 
an advanced hour, my attention was called to a large 
apartment from which the sound of singing proceeded. 
The door was kept by some native lads, who at once 
recognised my profession by the colour of my necktie. 
' Le Pretre ! le Pretre ! ' was whispered by one to another, 
and they made way for me to enter. The building I found 
to be quadrangular, and measuring about 35 feet. The 
majority of those present included men, but the dramatis 
personce were taken by women. The central space was 
free, and the audience accommodated at the sides. A 
large fire served the twofold object of supplying light and 
heat. Planks were extended round the building in front 
of the spectators, who were nearly all provided with short 
sticks, with which they beat time upon the boards before 
them to the choral snatches that were occasionally inter- 
posed in course of the entertainment. A female actor 
was on the floor when I entered. Her movements were 
tragic ; her hair was dishevelled ; and her pathetic tones 
and stately march from one direction to another gradually 
changed into song and dance, when the accompaniment of 
beating and chorus was struck up by the people. Soon 
another actor followed in a similar manner. 

Since the arrival of the whites, the professions, trades, 
and social habits of the latter afford scope for the comic 
powers of the Indians to travestie. Even the sacred func- 



'KLUQUOLLA.' 433 

tions of the clergy are not exempt from burlesque in these 
dramatic representations. 

Among the most notable of Indian customs is the initia- 
tion of a candidate into the mysteries of ' Kluquolla.' It 
is from those who succeed in undergoing the infliction 
connected with admission to the advantages peculiar to 
this rite that ' medicine-men ' are selected. 

The aspirant to this privilege and honour (writes an eye- 
witness of this ceremony) has to submit to a very severe prepa- 
ratory ordeal. He is removed from his own dwelling by a party 
of those who are already kluquollas, and led to a hut set apart 
for his special use. The first ceremony consists in cutting the 
arteries under the tongue, and allowing the blood to flow over 
his body, the face being, meanwhile, covered with a mask. 
After this an opiate is administered, which induces a state of 
unconsciousness, in which he is allowed to remain two days. At 
the end of this time he is plunged, or rather thrown, headlong 
into the water to arouse him. As soon as he is fully awake, he 
rushes on shore, and, as a rule, seizes the first dog he perceives 
with his teeth, tears, lacerates, and even devours a portion of it 
— at least, so I have been credibly informed. I can only speak 
from- personal observation as to some portions of the singular 
ceremonies in practice on these occasions, as the Indians are 
very jealous of any interference on the part of a white man. 
He also bites any of his fellows whom he may meet with. It is 
said that they who are already kluquollas esteem it rather an 
honour to be thus bitten. He is now seized, bound with ropes, 
and led like a captive, by the party in charge of him, three 
times a day round the village during a period of seven days, a 
rattle producing a dreadful noise being constantly agitated 
before him. At this time he bites and stabs indiscriminately 
every one he comes across ; and as he certainly would not spare 
a white man if he happened to meet him in the camp, I took 
good care to keep both my own person and that of a favourite 
little dog out of his reach.* 

* Captain Barrett Lennard's Yacht Voyage, p. 52. 
F F 



434 MEDICINE-MEN 

This account I understand to refer to the rite as prac- 
tised on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. It being 
deemed by the Indians the most important of their cere- 
monies, the reader will not object to the perusal of the 
following passage on the subject from the correspondence 
of a gentleman whose long residence among the northern 
tribes entitles him to be heard. 

An old chief, in cold blood, ordered a slave to be dragged to 
the beach, murdered, and thrown into the water. His orders 
were quickly obeyed. The victim was a poor woman. Two or 
three reasons are assigned for this foul act ; one is, that it is to 
take away the disgrace attached to his daughter, who has been 
suffering some time from a ball wound in the arm. Another 
report is, that he does not expect his daughter to recover, so he 
has killed his slave in order that she may prepare for the coming 
of his daughter into the unseen world. 

I did not see the murder, but immediately after I saw crowds 
of people running out of those houses near to where the corpse 
was thrown, and forming themselves into groups at a good dis- 
tance away. This I learnt was from fear of what was to follow. 
Presently two bands of furious wretches appeared, each headed 
by a man in a state of nudity. They gave vent to the most 
unearthly sounds, and the two naked men made themselves look 
as unearthly as possible, proceeding in a creeping kind of stoop, 
and stepping like two proud horses, at the same time shooting 
forward each arm alternately, which they held out at full length 
for a little time in the most defiant manner. Besides this, the 
continual jerking their heads back, causing their long black 
hair to twist about, added much to their savage appearance. 

For some time they pretended to be seeking the body, and 
the instant they came where it lay they commenced screaming, 
and rushing round it like so many angry wolves. Finally they 
seized it, dragged it out of the water, and laid it on the beach, 
where I was told the naked men would commence tearing it to 
pieces with their teeth. The two bands of men immediately 
surrounded them, and so hid their horrid work. In a few 
minutes the crowd broke again into two, when each of the naked 



AND THEIR ATROCITIES. 435 

cannibals appeared with half of the body in his hands. Sepa- 
rating a few yards, they commenced, amid horrid yells, their 
still more horrid feast. The sight was too terrible to behold. 
I left the gallery with a depressed heart. I may mention that 
the two bands of savages just alluded to belong to that class 
which the whites term ( medicine-men.' The superstitions con- 
nected with this fearful system are deeply rooted here ; and it 
is the admitting and initiating of fresh pupils into these arts 
that employ numbers, and excite and interest all, during the 
winter months. This year I think there must have been eight 
or ten parties of them ; but each party has seldom more than 
one pupil at once. In relating their proceedings, I can give 
but a faint conception of the system as a whole ; but still a little 
will serve to show the dense darkness that rests on this place. 

I may mention that each party has some characteristics 
peculiar to itself; but, in a more general sense, their divisions 
are but three, viz., those who eat human bodies, the dog- 
eaters, and those who have no custom of the kind. 

Early in the morning the pupils would be out on the beach, 
or on the rocks, in a state of nudity. Each had a place in 
front of his own tribe: nor did intense cold interfere in the 
slightest degree. After the poor creature had crept about, 
jerking his head and screaming for some time, a party of men 
would rush out, and, after surrounding him, would commence 
singing. The dog-eating party occasionally carried a dead dog 
to their pupil, who forthwith commenced to tear it in the most 
doglike manner. The party of attendants kept up a low 
growling noise, or a whoop, which was seconded by a screeching 
noise made from an instrument which they believe to be the 
abode of a spirit. In a little time the naked youth would 
start up again, and proceed a few more yards in a crouching 
posture, with his arms pushed out behind him, and tossing 
his flowing black hair. All the while he is earnestly watched 
by the group around him, and when he pleases to sit down 
they again surround him and commence singing. This kind 
of thing goes on, with several little additions, for some time. 
Before the prodigy finally retires, he takes a run into every 
house belonging to his tribe, and is followed by his train. 



436 CANNIBALS. 

When this is done, in some cases he has a ramble on the tops 
of the same houses, during which he is anxiously watched by 
his attendants, as if they expected his flight. By-and-by he 
condescends to come down, and they then follow him to his den, 
which is signified by a rope made of red bark being hung over 
the doorway, so as to prevent any person from ignorantly vio- 
lating its precincts. None are allowed to enter that house but 
those connected with the art: all I know, therefore, of their 
further proceedings is, that they keep up a furious hammering, 
singing, and screeching for hours during the day. 

Of all these parties, none are so much dreaded as the 
cannibals. One morning I was called to witness a stir in the 
camp which had been caused by this set. When I reached the 
gallery I saw hundreds of Tchimseans sitting in their canoes, 
which they had just pushed away from the beach. I was told 
that the cannibal party were in search of a body to devour, 
and if they failed to find a dead one, it was probable they would 
seize the first living one that came in their way ; so that all the 
people living near to the cannibal's house had taken to their 
canoes to escape being torn to pieces. It is the custom among 
those Indians to burn their dead ; but I suppose for these occa- 
sions they take care to deposit a corpse somewhere, in order to 
satisfy these inhuman wretches. 

These, then, are some of the things and scenes which occur 
in the day during the winter months, while the nights are taken 
up with amusements — singing and dancing. Occasionally the 
medicine parties invite people to their several houses, and ex- 
hibit tricks before them of various kinds. Some of the actors 
appear as bears, while others wear masks, the parts of which 
are moved by strings. The great feature in their proceedings 
is to pretend to murder, and then to restore to life, and so 
forth. The cannibal, on such occasions, is generally supplied 
with two, three, or four human bodies, which he tears to pieces 
before his audience. Several persons, either from bravado or 
as a charm, present their arms for him to bite. I have seen 
several whom he has thus bitten, and I hear two have died from 
the effects. 

One very dark night I was told there was a moon to see on 



EDUCATION OF THE ALLIED. 437 

the beach. On going to see, there was an illuminated disc, with 
the figure of a man upon it. The water was then very low, and 
one of the conjuring parties had lit up this disc at the water's 
edge. They had made it of wax, with great exactness, and pre- 
sently it was at the full. It was an imposing sight. Nothing 
could be seen around it; but the Indians suppose that the 
medicine party are then holding converse with the man in the 
moon. Indeed, there is no wonder in the poor creatures being 
deluded, for the peculiar noises that were made, while all 
around was perfectly still, and the good imitation of the moon 
while all around was enveloped in darkness, seemed just cal- 
culated to create wild and superstitious notions. After a short 
time the moon waned away, and the conjuring party returned, 
whooping, to their house. 

Before any young persons can join these medicine parties 
they are supposed to go into the bush for some days, and be 
there alone, whence they receive their supernatural gifts. But 
I am inclined to believe that this is not strictly carried out, for 
it is also supposed they are not visible when they come back : it 
therefore becomes an easy matter to conceal them in their 
houses for a short time, and then publish a lie. The end of all 
these proceedings is the giving away property ; so the chiefs 
reap the benefit. No person need think of becoming ' allied ' 
until he or his friends have amassed considerable property, and 
are disposed to beggar themselves. 

One Sunday I was startled by a peculiar noise proceeding 
from the camp, and, on going to see what was the cause, I 
observed a man, who, it seems, had finished his education as an 
6 allied,' and was now going to give away his goods. He was 
proceeding to a distant part of the camp, and stepping all the 
way like a proud, unmanageable horse. Behind him were about 
fifteen or twenty men, all holding on to a kind of rope which 
went round his waist. They were pretending to keep him back 
or hold him from taking his flight. Presently this party was 
joined by other two upon a similar errand, and they now seemed 
to try which could make the greatest noise or look the most 
unearthly. The three bands, after a good deal of manoeuvring 
proceeded, I think, to the same chief's house. 



438 MEDICAL PRESCRIPTIONS. 

While the class that have been described are called 
' rnedicine-nien,' it is not to be supposed that their occu- 
pation consists in curing disease, nor are they to be 
confounded with ' doctors ' who are devoted to the exercise 
of that art. 

'Medicine-men' are believed to be endowed with 
supernatural ability to prognosticate, and are armed with 
power to execute justice upon offenders. The super- 
stitions of the people invest the ' medicine-men ' with a 
degree of importance superior in many respects to that 
of the chief. The former being supposed to be in com- 
munication with the invisible world, his movements are 
anxiously watched, and his predictions revered. 

The medical profession embraces qualifications and 
duties of a distinct character. Practitioners of the healing 
art are usually chosen from among persons who have 
themselves suffered under some grievous malady and been 
restored to health, or, having been exposed to some peril 
in war or chase, have escaped uninjured. The greater 
the risk that has been run, the more competent is the 
individual accounted in dealing with diseases. Physical 
ailments and dangers are ascribed to malevolent spirits, 
and the recovery of the sufferer is viewed as the result of 
virtue imparted from above, by which he is enabled to 
triumph over the invisible enemy. 

The prescriptions in use among certain tribes will serve 
to show how innocent are native doctors of medical 
science. 

The recipe for pains in the stomach is the application 
of a bag of hot ashes, after a piece of damp cloth has been 
placed on the skin. Headache is cured by striking the 
patient on the part affected with small branches of the 
spruce-tree. In case of bad wounds they employ a salve ; 
but the method of treating simple cuts is to touch the lips 



INCANTATION. 439 

of the wound with gum. For most internal complaints 
some herbal decoction is taken. 

When tempted to smile at the credulity of these poor 
creatures, our ridicule may well be tempered with pity 
when it is remembered that, at no very remote period, 
superstition, equally striking, prevailed in our own country 
as to medical treatment. 

In the time of Eoger Bacon, the leaves of an alder, on 
which the sun had never shone, were prescribed for 
erysipelas, and a cross made of alder and willow for 
epilepsy. To cure consumption, the inhabitants of some 
districts in Scotland tied a rag to the finger and toe nails 
of the sick person, and then, having waved it thrice round 
his head, buried it privately. 'Eicketty children were 
drawn through a split tree, which was afterwards bound 
up so that the severed parts might grow together, and the 
recovery of the diseased child was believed to correspond 
to the restoration of the tree. A cure for hooping-cough 
was found in mounting the patient on a black ass, led 
nine times round an oak tree, or sometimes in giving the 
hair of the child, rolled up in butter, to a dog.' * 

When other remedies prove ineffectual, incantation is 
resorted to by the Indians. The instrument used for this 
purpose is sometimes made of three or four dozen bills of 
the horned puffin strung together. A noise is produced 
by small stones put within this rattle, which is kept in a 
whirling motion round the patient while a song is sung. 
During the operation, the ear or mouth of the doctor is 
occasionally applied to the seat of the disorder. It is 
usual at this stage to cauterise the part with ignited 
tinder made of dried flax, or make an incision. If relief 
follows, the doctor announces the diseased element to 
have been extracted — that having been inserted in the 

* Remarkable Delusions, p. 47. 



440 BELIEF IN WITCHCKAFT. 

invalid's system, as it is believed, by some evil agent. On 
this intelligence being published to the friends of the 
patient, it is customary for them, in expression of their 
gratitude, to reward the disciple of Esculapius with what- 
ever property they may possess. Should a relapse ensue, 
however, and the patient die, the doctor is obliged to 
return all he has received. 

When intensely excited in the performance of his pro- 
fessional duties, he pretends that he is cognisant of the 
shape and position of the patient's spirit. To facilitate 
this clairvoyance, the doctor closes his eyes for some time, 
and afterwards pronounces his opinion. Either he per- 
ceives the soul to be in its natural place, which is a 
hopeful symptom, or longing to depart, which renders the 
prospect of recovery doubtful ; or he finds that it has 
taken its flight, which places the condition of the patient 
beyond hope. Some of these bold deceivers have not 
hesitated to declare the result of this supernatural inspec- 
tion of the spirit to be that it resembled a fly in appear- 
ance, having a long curved proboscis ! 

Belief in witchcraft is prevalent among these people, 
though in this respect they are not more superstitious 
than were our ancestors in the reign of James I., when a 
storm, which threatened the lives of that monarch and his 
bride on their voyage from Denmark, was gravely ascribed 
to the instrumentality of a person in the south of Scotland, 
suspected of being in collusion with infernal spirits. 

The Tchimseans and other Indian tribes charge the cause 
of all physical ailments, and frequently of death, upon the 
secret agency of malevolence. Should the victim of some 
supposed machination be a man of distinction in his clan, 
and die — especially in a sudden manner — the friend of 
the deceased arbitrarily pitch upon some slave, stranger 
just arrived in the camp, or other, individual with whom 



IDEAS OP PERSONAL BEAUTY. 441 

the departed may have been recently at variance, as 
accessory to the deed ; and nothing short of the life of the 
imagined culprit will satisfy the demands of the bereaved. 
It is believed that the sorcerer effects his purpose either 
by magic, or the stealthy introduction of poison into the 
system of the sick man. 

The result of these notions is that mutual distrust is 
perpetually liable to be produced among the members of 
the several tribes ; and I have been informed that the 
death of certain employes of the Hudson's Bay Company 
was occasioned by some kindred superstition, at a fort on 
the mainland, many years ago. 

When two natives quarrel, the most successful mode of 
giving effect to anger is for the one to predict the death 
of the other in the phrase, 'By-and-by, you will die-,'' 
and it often happens that the terror this announcement 
awakens secures its own fulfilment. When this occurs, 
the malicious prophet has usually to expiate his indiscre- 
tion with his life. 

Their ideas of personal beauty receive an odd illustra- 
tion in the flattening of the head — a practice which 
prevails on the north-west coast, from latitude 53° 30' to 
latitude 46°. This process of compression is simple. The 
child, as soon as born, is placed in a cradle scooped out of 
a log of timber. This rude ark is flat at the bottom, and 
raised at the point where the neck of the child rests. A 
flat stone is fastened to the head of the infant in this 
posture by thin strips of twisted bark. In the situation 
indicated the child is kept till able to walk, and its fore- 
head has been moulded into the desired shape. Indian 
women are sometimes to be met with in the Quatsino 
district with sculls of a tapering or conical form, produced 
by artificial means, similarly disgusting with those already 
mentioned. It is to the families of chiefs and Tenass 



442 PACE ORNAMENTS. 

Tyhees (gentlemen commoners !) that this privilege is 
alone permitted. 

The male sex are averse to cultivating hirsute develop- 
ments on the face in any fashion, and generally pluck out 
by the roots hairs that, if left to grow, would assume the 
form of whiskers, beard, or moustache. 

Females are passionately fond of facial ornaments, 
which are often hideous in proportion to their rank. A 
piece of mother-o'-pearl, suspended from a puncture in 
the cartilage of the nose, is occasionally worn, and the 
same kind of appendage is used for earrings. Even the 
chin sometimes appears repulsive from native decoration- 
Some wear a small piece of bone or a silver tube projected 
half way through a slit prepared to receive it. Others — 
of higher station, I presume — have the under lip dis- 
tended in an offensive manner, by a piece of bone of 
considerable thickness placed between the lower jaw and 
the upper part of the chin inside. Through the space 
created in the mouth by this distension, I have heard old 
Indian hags amuse themselves by whistling, the sound 
thus produced being of an unearthly character. Bracelets 
and anklets of brass are profusely displayed by the native 
women. 

The hair of an Indian is never cut short, as short hair 
is deemed by them a badge of slavery. 

Tattooing exists among some of the northern tribes. 
Pigments are in universal demand, many of the females 
painting their faces on all occasions, but the men only at 
set periods. Vermilion is used in great quantities on 
their red-letter days, and is readily disposed of to natives 
by the whites as an article of barter. Their war-paint is 
black, and is manufactured by themselves. This colour, 
while invariably employed in battle, is also worn as a 
badge of mourning. 



AN INDIAN VILLAGE. 443 

Tomahawks, guns, pistols, bows and arrows — the latter 
headed with iron or flint — are their principal weapons. 
When contending tribes wish for peace, they despatch an 
embassy bearing to the enemy a pipe formed of wood or 
stone adorned with paint and white corals as an emblem 
of truce, and so unfeigned is the respect with which the 
bearer of this signal is treated, that any insult done him 
is visited with death. The solemnisation of a treaty of 
peace is often celebrated by the smoking of a pipe on the 
part of the belligerent chiefs. 

Since the advent of civilisation in their neighbourhood, 
the rude and indecently slender covering of native manu- 
facture, which formerly protected their persons, has been 
exchanged for shirts and blankets. Their ordinary food, 
in addition to fish and wild animals, includes potatoes, 
ground-nuts, acorns, lily-roots, &c. 

An Indian village consists of an assemblage of huts 
arranged in a line, varying from 100 to 300 feet in length, 
and from 50 to 100 feet in breadth. The framework is 
composed of posts and beams often of immense propor- 
tions. The heavy logs and thick plank boarding they 
use are readily obtained from surrounding forests. A 
common roof covers the structure, of sufficient pitch to 
allow the rain to drop from it. One such establishment 
contains 20 or 30 families, each of these being accom- 
modated with a separate compartment. The chief resides 
at the upper end, the proximity of his relatives to him 
being according to their degree of kindred. A village of 
this description, however, is only a temporary encamp- 
ment. Every tribe has several such habitations, their 
locality being determined by the facilities afforded for the 
pursuit of fishing and hunting avocations by the adjacent 
region at particular seasons of the year. When an Indian 
family shifts their quarters their Lares and Penates travel 



444 GAMBLING — HEEALDEY. 

with them, and only the skeleton of their dwelling is left 
behind. When passing the bights on the coast margin 
between Victoria and Salt Spring, during the salmon 
period, I have seen families encamped in such places with 
no more shelter than their canoes could supply, and felt 
interested in hearing from these secluded nooks the crow- 
ing of cocks, that formed part of their portable chattels. 

One of their favourite sources of amusement is gam- 
bling. An Indian is so susceptible of excitement from 
this vice as often to stake every article in his possession 
to the very shirt on his back. Though having several 
times had an opportunity of observing the game, I could 
never ascertain distinctly how it was conducted. A 
group forming a circle is seated on the ground, and a 
number of small pieces of polished stick, resembling short 
pencils, are used by them. These are dealt out to the 
players, and amidst a monotonous hum and constant mo- 
tion of the hands kept up to this barbarous sound, these 
sticks are thrown from one hand to another till some one 
guesses who happens to be the holder of the trump stick. 

A system of heraldry obtains among them, which, as 
distinguished from those purely ornamental props of 
family pride called escutcheons prevailing in civilised 
communities, fulfils useful designs. Some Indian families 
adopt Yale (the crow), others Segetee (the beaver), others 
Ronge (the wolf), &c. The object of their agreeing upon 
these devices respectively is twofold : to erect barriers 
against marriage being contracted between persons related 
to each other by the ties of consanguinity, and to secure 
provision for the needy whose kindred relationship may 
give them claims upon that portion of the tribe having 
the same crest. 

' The relationship,' says Commander Mayne, ' between 
persons of the same crest is considered to be nearer than 



USE OF CRESTS. 445 

that of the same tribe ; members of the same tribe may 
and do marry, but those of the same crest are not, I 
believe, under any circumstances allowed to do so. A 
whale, therefore, may not marry a whale ; nor &frog, a 
frog. The child again always takes the crest of the 
mother. So that if the mother be a wolf all her chil- 
dren will be wolves. As a rule also, descent is traced 
from the mother — not from the father. 

6 At their feasts they never invite any of the same crest 
as themselves ; feasts are given generally for the cement- 
ing of friendship or the allaying of strife, and it is 
supposed that people of the same crest cannot quarrel. 
But I fear this supposition is not always supported by 
fact.' 

With such reverence does an Indian treat an animal 
adopted as his family crest, that he would esteem it 
sacrilege to kill it. Should another who sustains no such 
relation to that emblematic animal shoot it in his presence, 
he will ceremoniously hide his face, and demand repara- 
tion for the affront. The offence of killing the animal 
does not consist in that act, but in its being done before 
one to whose family arms it belongs. 

There is another capricious usage in connection with 
these crests. When an Indian wishes at any time to ex- 
hibit his family insignia, all natives before whom he 
appears are bound by certain recognised laws of honour 
to show respect to it by casting property before it in 
quantities commensurate with the rank and means of the 
giver. Should an Indian, prompted by motives of need, 
mischief, or cupidity, bearing his crest painted upon his 
forehead or the paddles of his canoe, or worked with but- 
tons on his blanket, desire to profit by this social custom, 
the unsuspecting victim he meets has no alternative but 
to present the costly offering which superstition demands. 



446 FOETUNE-TELLING. 

Shrewd and unscrupulous individuals are not wanting 
who take advantage of this practice to impose on their 
neighbours. 

At the beginning of the fish or berry season the same 
class will spread a report that revelations have been made 
to them, by dream, of particular localities where these 
productions exist in abundance. A present is, of course, 
the condition on which they can be induced to disclose 
the secret. To render their supernatural pretensions more 
plausible with those they attempt to dupe, they walk 
about at night in lonely places, as if influencing their 
divinities to ' work on the hearts of the fish,' that the latter 
may be plentiful during the ensuing season. So readily 
are the assumptions of these impostors credited by their 
deluded brethren that they can always succeed in obtaining 
large rewards for their fortune-telling services. The en- 
chanter is crafty enough to direct enquirers to spots where 
their hopes are not likely to be disappointed ; but as with 
the ancient pythoness, should his prediction turn out fal- 
lacious, he is prepared to transfer the cause of failure from 
himself by insisting that they must have done something 
to incur the displeasure of the gods. 

The responsible task of foretelling births, deaths, mar- 
riages, and other events of domestic interest, devolves, as 
in the least enlightened parts of Scotland at the present 
day, upon old women who have reputation for pos- 
sessing the faculty of second sight. These venerable 
prophetesses are able, while relating ominous dreams, to 
engage the rapt attention of their friends, who listen 
with gaping mouths and awe-struck gaze to their silly 
tales. 

In negotiating marriages, articles often to the value of 
from 201. to 40/. sterling are given by the suitor to her 
parents for the purchase of his intended bride, years before 



MAERIAGE AND SEPULTURE. 447 

she arrives at marriageable age. A young Siwash of a 
northern tribe, falling in love, employs the intercession of a 
friend, who visits the house of the bride's father for the pur- 
pose of obtaining his consent and her own to the proposed 
match. So many blankets are bargained for as the price 
of the favour solicited. The candidate for matrimony is 
accustomed to sit outside the door of the house — be the 
condition of the weather what it may — till the business 
delegated to his agent is concluded. Should success attend 
the efforts of that friend, he, with another, performs the 
ceremony of raising the bridegroom from the squatting 
posture in which he had awaited the issue of his suit. After 
this he is conducted into the house, and refreshments are 
set before him, expressive of his acceptance by the parents 
as a husband for their daughter. The brother of the bride 
— if she have one — places his sister under the roof of the 
bridegroom, which act formally introduces the young 
couple to matrimonial felicity. 

In regard to modes of sepulture, it may be stated that 
some of the natives residing near Victoria now bury their 
dead in imitation of the whites. But with Indians removed 
from contact with civilisation this is not the usual practice. 
Some tribes, as a rule, burn their dead and preserve the 
ashes. In the native burying-grouncls I have seen, remains 
were generally interred in wooden boxes, the top of which 
is simply covered with matting, there being occasionally 
large stones over this. These rude coffins are laid on the 
ground, suspended in branches of trees, or placed upon 
blocks of wood. Flags, emblazoned with the family 
emblem of the deceased, frequently mark the Indian 
graves in the interior of British Columbia ; and armorial 
bearings, carved in wood on a large scale, are often found 
erected against native tombs in Vancouver Island. 

For about thirty days after funereal rites are performed, 



448 BURNING THE DEAD. 

at sunrise and sunset dirges are chanted, in token of 
mourning for the departed. 

In strange contrast with the nature of the occasion, and 
the violent wailing of the mourners, it is customary, at the 
burial of a chief, for his wealth to be exhibited at his 
grave. 

It was formerly deemed essential to the dignity of a 
chief's interment that some of his slaves should be slaugh- 
tered to attend his spirit into the invisible world. This 
atrocity has, I believe, entirely ceased. 

The custom of burning the dead has not yet altogether 
disappeared among the Indians of California. It is prac- 
tised by them on religious grounds. They believe in the 
existence of a vast and beautiful camping field, situated in 
some undefined region lying westward, where Indians live 
together in perpetual ease and plenty. This shadowy 
kingdom is presided over by a great spirit of unspeakable 
goodness. It is also part of their creed that there is an 
evil spirit who watches every opportunity to injure them, 
and whom, having the power to keep them out of heaven, 
it is their duty to thwart by conciliation or stratagem. 
They regard the heart to be immortal, and imagine that, 
while the body is burning, the heart leaps out, and that 
if by noise or gesticulation they can divert the attention 
of the evil spirit, the heart escapes to the place of eternal 
safety; but if the body is buried, the evil one keeps 
constant guard over the grave, and when the heart would 
emerge, it is captured, and employed to annoy surviving 
relatives. 

When a ' Digger Indian ' is about to expire, his head is 
gently placed in the lap of some relative and his eyes 
closed, while those who are standing near recite in low 
and monotonous tones the virtues of the dying. The 
moment his heart has ceased to beat, the intelligence of 



BURNING THE DEAD. 449 

what has occurred is conveyed to his relatives, and the 
chanting of the praises of the deceased is changed into 
loud wailing. Beating upon their breasts, and their eyes 
streaming with tears, all surrounding friends join in apo- 
strophising the spirit of the departed. The corpse is now 
prepared for burning ; the knees are pressed toward the 
chin upon the breast, and the limbs and body bound 
firmly together in the smallest possible compass. It is 
then wrapt in a blanket and placed on its back upon the 
ground, with the face exposed. Every sound is hushed, 
and both men and women sit in silent knots around the 
corpse for about twenty minutes, when all rise at once — 
the women to renew their lamentation, and the men to 
build the funereal pyre. When this is about two feet in 
height, every sound again ceases, and, amid a death-like 
stillness, the men lift the corpse upon the pyre, after which 
it is completely covered with additional firewood. The 
oldest and dearest relative then advances with a torch and 
fires the pile. When the first curl of smoke is visible, the 
discordant ho wlings of the women become almost appalling. 
The men stand in sullen and unbroken silence, while the 
nearest relatives, having poles in their hands, commence 
a frantic dance round the burning body, occasionally 
turning it over that it may consume more speedily, and 
give the heart a better chance to escape. With the 
waving of cloths and hideous noises they attempt to throw 
the evil one off his guard. Contrary to the habit of the 
Nootka Columbia Indians, the Digger tribes commit all 
the personal property of the deceased to the flames, his 
relatives frequently sacrificing at the same time their own 
itkas, even to the articles of clothing on their persons, so 
that the dead may have what is requisite to his comfort 
on the great camping-ground of the spirit-world. When 
the whole is consumed, the ashes are scraped together, and 

G G 



450 



CATCHING GRASSHOPPERS. 



"- 



a rude wreath of flowers, woods, and brush placed around 
them. A portion of the ashes, mixed with pitch, is spread 
on the faces of the relatives as a badge of mourning, which 
is allowed to remain till it wears off; and after more than 
six months the cheeks of the mourners exhibit traces of 
this disfigurement. 

Without stopping to describe, in detail, the peculiarities 
of Indian social life, it may be mentioned that, while 
resembling the coast tribes in respect to several kinds of 
food and dress, the attire of natives in the interior is more 




CATCHING GRASSHOPPERS. 



elaborately ornamented. Wild roots, grass, clover, seeds 
of wild flowers, acorns, and grasshoppers, form the main 
supplies of the Digger Indians. Their mode of procuring 
the last article in this list is not a little ingenious. A hole 
is first dug deep enough to prevent these insects jumping 
out. A circle is then formed of Indians, old and young, 



RAIN-MAKING. 451 

armed with bushes. These they apply in beating the 
grasshoppers toward their place of slaughter. Having 
fallen into the hole, they are taken prisoners. Sometimes 
the grass and weeds around are set on fire, so they are 
disabled and afterwards picked up. 

The aborigines of the interior generally spend a great 
part of their time in the saddle, and extensive practice in 
riding makes them superior horsemen. They prefer the 
Spanish style of saddle, which is manufactured by them 
with much skill. Their bridle, often made of the hair of 
the wild sheep plaited, is simply a cord passed through 
the horse's mouth and hitched round his lower jaw, the 
ends brought up on either side of his head. 

Like our forefathers, who believed in the efficacy of 
bay-leaf as preventive of thunder, they carry about their 
persons bags made of the skins of various animals as 
charms. 

Among the mummeries of the medicine-men in the 
interior of the country, the principal consists of rain- 
making. A skilful rain-maker is always a popular medi- 
cine-man. After a lengthened period of drought, these 
tricksters, trusting to the uniformity of the laws of nature, 
apply themselves to the performance of their incantations 
in the confidence that moisture will eventually condense 
and fall upon the parched fields. Should the clouds be 
slow in gathering, they strive to quicken in their benighted 
clients an appreciation of their mystical services by de- 
claring that the longed-for shower is retarded by some 
offence committed against the Deity. When they know 
the rain to be at hand, they work upon the superstitions 
of spectators by invoking the Great Spirit with redoubled 
vehemence ; and when the cloud is on the point of dis- 
charging its contents, they artfully send an arrow from 
the bow, under pretence of piercing it. 

G G 2 



452 TRADITION OF THE CREATION. 



Indian Traditions. 



The ' Clingats,' which name is applied to all the northern 
tribes, relate the following tradition of the creation of their 
portion of the world. In the country, which was originally 
sunless and chaotic, the ( Yale) crow was the only living 
thing. He hovered over the liquid and solitary waste, 
till, impatient of this roving condition, he resolved to find 
rest for the sole of his foot. To accomplish this end, and 
render the land habitable, he bade the waters recede, 
and the only visible remains of them were confined to 
lakes, rivers, and the ocean. The sun was summoned 
from his hiding-place, the contact of his rays with the 
moist earth produced a mist which spread over the country. 
Out of this material the Yale created salmon, and put 
them in the lakes and rivers. Deer, wolves, and all 
varieties of the feathery tribe, were also located in a 
habitat suited to their nature. 

The Yale having finished the general work of creation, 
found that all the animals were satisfied with the arrange- 
ment of the world except the racoon. This creature 
being of slothful propensities, and supplied with provi- 
sions sufficient for a long winter, expressed a wish that that 
season should include five months. The Yale refused to 
comply with the desire of the racoon, out of consideration 
for the deer and mountain sheep, and determined that 
the snow season should not exceed four months. Seizing 
one of the racoon's claws he twisted it off, and said, ' the 
four that remain will be a sign to you for ever, that from 
the period when the sun leaves a certain point in the 
heavens till he returns, there shall be four months of snow, 
four of rain, and four of summer weather.' 
i When the cold season arrived the crow was without 
shelter, and accommodation for storing the salmon he had 



THE CROATS MARRIAGES. 453 

dried for winter use. To meet this emergency he formed 
two men out of a shower of rain, and instructed them 
how to build a house, make rope out of the bark of trees, 
and dry salmon. 

There was still one element wanting to complete the 
crow's happiness. He resolved to get married, and made 
choice of a female salmon for his spouse, with whom he suc- 
ceeded in living agreeably for a time. But, on a certain 
occasion, the crow fell to gambling with the stump of a 
tree. The result was, as is often the case in such an occupa- 
tion, that he became displeased with his partner in the 
game and beat it severely. With temper ruffled he went 
home, laid hold of his wife by the gills, and belaboured 
her so unmercifully that she immediately took her depar- 
ture into the river, whence she never returned. All the 
dried salmon leaped from the larder and followed her — 
leaving his cupboard entirely empty. 

Soon recovering from the loss sustained by him, he 
contracted an alliance with a daughter of the sun. The 
offspring of this union was a male child, who strikingly 
resembles the Phaeton of Grecian Mythology. This youth 
undertook to guide the chariot of his grandsire. When 
the sun approached the meridian, the aspiring young 
gentleman became fearful in consequence of the giddy 
height to which he had attained, and misdirecting the 
course of that luminary, he accidentally grazed the earth 
and set fire to some of the mountains, one of which is sup- 
posed to be Mount Baker. This is a neighbouring volcano, 
which is still observed occasionally in a state of eruption. 
The crow chastised the folly of his son, and once more 
restored the world to order. 

The crow and his illustrious wife are believed to have 
been the progenitors of the human family. In the exercise 
of his kind providence over dependent creatures, he sup- 
plied the rivers with fish and peopled the air with fowls: 



454 CAN-NOOK AND THE CROW. 

When on a tour of inspection in his dominions, he one 
evening reached the house of a chief called Can-nook. 
Overcome with fatigue and thirst, he begged lodging for 
the night and a drink of water. Can-nook gave his con- 
sent to the crow becoming his guest, but on account of a 
prevailing scarcity of water at the time, he declined to let 
him have anything to drink. After the household had 
gone to rest, the crow got up to search for the water-butt ; 
but the wakeful spouse of Can-nook, hearing the crow 
astir, roused her husband. He no sooner suspected the 
design of the crow to escape than he piled logs of green- 
wood on the fire. The crow made desperate attempts to 
fly through the hole in the roof by which the smoke 
escaped. The impious old boor, not satisfied with denying 
to the Divine bird a necessary element of hospitality, 
seemed determined to keep him prisoner. Can-nook 
exerted himself vigorously to augment the volume of 
smoke as the crow fled. Previous to that occurrence we 
are assured by the Indians that the crow was white, and 
that since then the species has ever been black. Can-nook 
I understand to represent the evil spirit. 

In course of time the growing depravity of the natives 
became intolerable to the patience of the creative bird. 
His own life was threatened by them. To punish their 
crimes he overspread the heavens with clouds, and caused 
torrents of rain to descend. He made fissures in the 
earth, from which immense jets of water spouted forth, 
flooding the country. The people gathered their stores 
of provisions together and took to their canoes. As the 
waters rose the soil became so soft that trees were 
loosened from their roots, and floated to the surface, 
upsetting most of the canoes. Multitudes consequently 
perished. At length, with the exception of three high 
mountains, in the Songhie, Stickeen, and Sitka countries 
respectively, the entire region was submerged. 



THE SIM-M0QUI. 455 

A few succeeded in reaching the summits of these 
mountains, and from this saved remnant the present 
northern Indians believe themselves to have sprung. To 
hasten the work of populating the land, thus desolated by 
the flood, the crow desired the survivors to throw stones 
behind their backs (a la Deucalion and Pyrrha), which 
were converted into men, women, and fur-bearing animals. 

Modifications of this tradition are to be met with among 
various tribes of British Columbia. The crow gives his 
name to several rivers in the language of the natives — for 
example, Yale keen Klane (the crow's big water), &c. 

A remarkable correspondence exists between the 
Scripture account of ' the Fall of Man ' and that con- 
tained in traditions of the Indians of the Eocky Mountains. 
The chief difference consists in berries being substituted 
by these red men for the tree-fruit of the Garden of Eden. 

Mr. James Deans, of Victoria — who has been an 
intelligent observer of Indian life in the country for twelve 
years, and to whose kindness I am indebted for much 
information respecting them — told me that the following 
tradition was related to him by a native. An unearthly 
race called Sim-moqais, resembling the hob-goblins and 
brownies of British superstition, inhabit the margin of a 
lake in the interior. They are about seven feet high, and 
are without joints in their knees or elbows. The difficulty 
of locomotion to which this natural deficiency subjects 
them is partially met by long poles, with the assistance of 
which they slide down when they change a standing for a 
recumbent posture. Their hair is long, unkempt, and dirty. 
The Indians are supposed to have sustained in for- 
mer times great annoyance from the abstraction of their 
women by these hideous creatures. Some ' clootchmen ' * 
engaged once in gathering berries in the woods were 
belated. When night came on they descried a distant 

* Synonym for squaws or Indian women. 



456 CAUSE OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. 

light, and on approaching found that it proceeded from a 
Sim-moqui encampment. They were soon made prisoners 
by these monsters. After being missed for some days 
from their own home, these wanderers were sought by 
their friends, who were, like themselves, attracted by light 
at a distance. The avengers of the wronged squaws 
advanced to the abode of the Sim-moquis, and finding the 
women in their embrace dispatched the captors. 

The origin of fire is attributed by the Songhie tribe to 
the following circumstance, which certainly does not evince 
the possession of a very sublime imagination by the 
natives. Formerly the Indians were accustomed to eat 
fish uncooked as the Esquimaux now do. One day, a bird 
alighted among a party of them while at a meal, and com- 
miserated their cheerless condition, destitute of that 
cooking essential. They were told by the beneficent 
feathery visitor that the boon they so much required was 
upon its head, and should be granted to the good people 
of the tribe ; but as the advantage to be conferred was 
so precious, it could not be obtained without special effort 
being put forth to catch the bird. Off it flew, and all the 
tribe pursued it over hill, river, and plain. It arrived ere 
long at the dwelling of an old woman, who solicited it to 
tarry, and promised to treat it kindly. The bird deigned 
to approve her as the medium of bestowing its favours. 
It complied with her wishes : she applied a piece of light 
wood to its head which was soon ignited, and it afterwards 
took flight to return no more. 

The phenomena of thunder and lightning are ascribed 
by most of the Indians on the British North American 
coast of the Pacific to a singular cause. A Brobdignag- 
gian bird, called Soochwass, whose nest is upon a certain 
lofty mountain — the situation of which no one professes to 
know — occasionally appeases the cravings of appetite by 
pouncing upon a whale of tempting size, as the fish makes 



IDEAS OF A FUTUEE STATE. 457 

its appearance on the surface of the ocean. Thunder is pro- 
duced by the flapping of the bird's wings, while lightning 
is represented as caused by the flash of its enormous eye. 

The religious beliefs of the fishing tribes can be but 
indistinctly deciphered, owing to the state of moral and 
intellectual degradation to which they are reduced. No 
temples or forms of worship exist among them to mark 
exalted reverence for a Supreme Being. Yet the ' Great 
Spirit ' is sometimes alluded to by them. 

As to their ideas of a future state, the doctrine of the 
transmigration of souls is held by the Songhie tribe. 
They do not seem to associate any moral disposition ex- 
hibited in this world with the perpetuation of that quality 
in another life, as its natural reward or penalty. But a 
great hunter is degraded into the form of the deer which 
he before hunted, and the fisherman into the fish it was 
his occupation to catch. So with other tastes and pur- 
suits in relation to the inferior animals. 

The Indians of parts farther north believe in a place of 
happiness, which they say is heewuch (or above). The 
spirits of the brave killed in battle go to keewuck-koiv 
(life above). To die from natural causes is accounted a 
sign of cowardice to be ashamed of. Those who expire 
in this manner are supposed to be unfit for participating 
in the felicities of heaven, and have to become refined by 
purgatorial discipline among the trees of the forests. 
This intermediate state is designated seewuck-kow (life in 
purgatory). The distinguishing peculiarity of keewuck- 
koiv is, that perennial youth reigns there without inter- 
ruption or decay. 

As in all Pagan nations, their conceptions of the Great 
Spirit exhibit Him almost exclusively in a penal atti- 
tude. In Stickeen Biver, which displays the grandest of 
all the ineffably wild scenery of British Columbia, there 
are two large granite pillars and several small ones. 



458 THEFTS BY THE HYDAHS. 

These stand in the middle of the stream, and a tradition 
in connection with them is, that they form the remains 
of a great chief with his family, who was notorious in 
general crime, especially in stealing the berries stored 
by the local tribes. He, with wife and children, was 
visited with the anger of the Great Spirit by being 
transformed into these blocks of stone, as a permanent 
memorial to all succeeding generations of the danger of 
disobeying the Deity. 

Numerous instances have occurred, during my residence 
in the colony, of the treacherous, dishonest, and blood- 
thirsty disposition of the aborigines. Inconvenience has 
been experienced by the settlers chiefly from the northern 
tribes. The Hydahs, who belong to Queen Charlotte Island, 
have long been in the habit of visiting Victoria in great 
force, during spring, for the purpose of exchanging their 
rude products for articles of civilised manufacture. A few 
years ago the citizens of Victoria were greatly troubled by 
the presence of these unscrupulous rogues during their so- 
journ in our neighbourhood. Petty larcenies were skilfully 
committed by them during the day, and burglaries at night. 
For a time their nimbleness eluded the vigilance of the 
police and the settlers. The doors and windows of nearly 
every house in town were tried, and often with success. 
On a certain night my slumbers were broken by the dis- 
charge of a pistol in a house a few yards from where I 
slept. Next day I was informed by the person who fired 
that he had been awaked by a slight noise ; on looking 
up he saw, by moonlight, the figure of a man entering 
his apartment by a window opposite his bed, which was 
on the ground floor. He satisfied himself that the intruder 
was an Indian. His loaded revolver being suspended 
above his pillow, he raised his hand gently to seize it, 
endeavouring at the same time not to rouse the suspicions 



ENGAGEMENT AT CAPE MUDGE. 459 

of the savage burglar as to his object. But no sooner had 
he taken aim, than the wily visitor decamped, fortunately 
with sufficient agility to escape the contents of the 
weapon. 

Another householder, whose nocturnal repose was simi- 
larly disturbed at dawn of day, caught sight of the red- 
skinned offender. Eesolved not to be balked of his prey, 
he rushed in hot pursuit, his night-gown being his sole 
protection from the morning chill. After a long chase, 
the indignant avenger of the sacrilege committed upon his 
household gods succeeded in clutching, from behind, the 
blanket in which the Indian was enveloped, when the 
latter relaxed his hold of this primitive garment, and at a 
quickened pace fled from the grasp of his pursuer in a 
condition of stark nudity. 

Other depredations of a still more irritating character 
were perpetrated by these northern hordes on their way 
home ; so that it was thought expedient by the authorities 
to teach them a salutary lesson as to the distinction 
between meum and tuum. A gunboat was accordingly 
despatched to demand restitution. On the arrivalof the 
war vessel at Cape Mudge, the obnoxious natives were 
found to have ensconced themselves in a stockaded log 
village. When the errand of the gunboat was ascertained, 
they defied her, and opened a brisk fire of musketry, from 
the fatal effects of which only the rifle plates of the 
steamer could shield the crew. A shell was fired over 
the heads of the enemy to bring them to surrender ; but 
this mild intimation of the wishes of the man-of-war was 
unavailing. A few more discharges of shot and shell 
soon followed, smashing their canoes and scattering dismay 
throughout their camp. Only by these severe measures 
could the stolen goods be recovered. 

A schooner was some time afterwards maliciously fired 



460 CAPTAIN JOHN AND HIS BROTHER. 

into, on sailing out of Victoria harbour, by an Indian of 
the Songhie tribe, whose quarters are directly opposite 
the town, on the beach. To strike terror into the native 
mind, inquisition was made for the transgressor with great 
ceremony. Governor Douglas, whose abilities shone in 
quieting an Indian melee, ordered a gunboat to be stationed 
before the Indian camp, and in person directed a body of 
marines to defile on the landside. In that pompous style 
he was accustomed to assume, the Governor sent for the 
chief of the tribe, and announced that if the guilty person 
were not produced in a given number of minutes their 
houses would be bombarded. Vividly do I remember the 
suspense of the spectators as the brief time allowed the 
Indians for decision was about to expire. There is no 
doubt that his Excellency would have fulfilled his threats, 
regardless of consequences. But at the last moment the 
culprit was delivered up to be flogged in presence of his 
tillicums (friends) — a form of punishment the most humili- 
ating that can be inflicted upon these savages. 

Another exciting affray happened, which had a fatal 
termination. Captain John and his brother, two cruel 
monsters, who were accused of shedding innocent blood 
without measure, in the tribe of which they were Tyhees, 
were arrested by the authorities. The police who con- 
veyed them to prison omitted to take from their persons 
the bowie-knives they had been in the habit of carrying. 
The prisoners walked in an orderly enough manner to the 
gaol, but when about to be placed in their cells, they turned 
upon the gaoler with these deadly weapons. The scuffle 
— in which he was badly wounded, and but for timely 
help rendered must inevitably have been killed — attracted 
the notice of another officer, who approached, armed with 
a brace of revolvers, and finding that the alternative lay 
between putting an end to these fiends incarnate, and 



AN INDIAN HUNG. 461 

suffering his brother-policeman to perish at their hands, 
he chose the former course, and immediately shot each of 
the chiefs through the heart. Being within a few yards 
of the scene at the time it occurred, I hastened to learn 
what the pistol reports meant, when the lifeless bodies of 
Captain John and his brother, who a few seconds before 
had been in. health and vigour, lay prostrate before me. 

The only occasions on which the extreme penalty of the 
law has been put in force since the advent of the whites in 
Vancouver Island have been in connection with Indian 
atrocities.* In one case, a Songhish native was executed 
for the murder of a sailor belonging to one of Her 
Majesty's ships. This man, on his way from Victoria to 
Esquimalt, in a state of inebriation, one evening entered 
the dwelling of his destroyer, and attempted to take liber- 
ties with the squaw of the Siwash. The latter, stung by 
the insult, stabbed the sailor. Doubtless the verdict of 
the jury and the sentence of the Court were according to 
the evidence, but the provocation ought to have been 
accepted as in some degree palliative of the bloody deed. 
It is questionable whether, had the crime been committed 
by one white man against another under like circum- 
stances, the claims of justice would have been exacted 
with so much rigour. Nine- tenths of the outrages per- 
petrated by natives upon the superior race, and supposed 
to be the result of insensate cruelty, can be traced to some 
wanton violation of the personal or domestic rights of the 
Indians on the part of the whites. This assertion receives 
melancholy verification on the other side of the American 
boundary, where inhuman ' rowdies ' are known to esteem 
the life of a native as of no more consequence than that 
of a dog, and sometimes to shoot him down for the 

* The same cannot be affirmed of British Columbia, where several white 
men have already been executed for murder. 



462 BENTINCK ARM AND 

depraved gratification, as it has been expressed, of ' seeing 
him jump.' But even on British territory the principal 
and immediate effect of contact between the representa- 
tives of civilisation and the aborigines has been that 
4 fire-water,' debauchery, syphilitic disease, and augmented 
mortality have been introduced. Appalling as the ano- 
maly may appear, it is nevertheless uniform that the 
nation which professes .to bring into a virgin colony the 
blessings of the gospel in one hand, carries a moral 
Pandora box in the other ; accomplishing the physical 
and moral ruin of the primitive inhabitants, whose 
interests, gratitude and respect should prompt it jealously 
to guard. 

Still, it must be acknowledged that several times within 
the past seven years Indians have been instrumental in the 
massacre of white men without any known provocation, 
except that perhaps some of the tribes have held the pre- 
sence of our race to be practically an invasion. 

A gentleman well known to me, who is himself my 
authority for the statement, was on his way with a com- 
panion to the mines from Bentinck Arm. When they 
were sleeping in the bush together, it happened that my 
friend was startled before sunrise one morning by the 
report of a gun evidently fired close by. This was instantly 
followed by a groan from the young man by his side, who 
rolled over, and died without uttering a single word. 
My friend, in doubt as to what it was best for him to do 
under the circumstances, especially as he did not know 
but that there might be a strong attacking party near, 
concluded to lie quiet and motionless. Scarcely had he 
time to recover from his amazement before another shot 
came and shattered his ankle. He now resolved to 
defend himself at all hazards ; but unhappily his percus- 
sion-caps were damp. The rustling of my friend among 



BUTE INLET MASSACRES. 463 

the underwood, however, had the effect of scaring off the 
Indian, who probably suspected that he might be suddenly 
pursued by both the white men. My friend became so 
feeble from loss of blood that he could not rise ; and in 
that wild and lonely path, rarely tracked by whites at 
that season of the year, he was doomed to remain, watch- 
ing by the dead body of his companion for an entire 
fortnight, kept alive during this period by only a few 
small biscuits and a little sugar which chanced to be in 
his pocket. At length a good Samaritan passed by, and 
saw him safely housed. Not long after the murderer was 
identified, and captured by the chief of a tribe in the vicinity, 
who was not without some sense of justice in the matter. 
The cowardly wretch met with his merited end in a 
peculiar manner. The chief having satisfied himself of 
the guilt of the individual, ordered him to go to the verge 
of a lake adjoining the camp and fetch a bucket of water. 
When the fellow's back was turned, and without his 
receiving any announcement of what was about to befall 
him, he was fired upon by several members of the tribe 
by direction of the chief, who, in that case, never per- 
formed a more righteous act as judicial disposer of life in 
his tribe. 

But the most brutal and terrible massacre that has 
ever been known in the annals of Indian outrage in 
British North America, took place in the month of 
May 1864 on the coast of British Columbia. A party of 
men, engaged under Mr. Waddington in making a road 
from the head of Bute Inlet to Alexandria, were surprised 
at midnight by a large number of natives belonging to 
a neighbouring lodge, who, till then, appeared to mani- 
fest friendly feeling. The tents of the white men were 
stealthily entered, and it was evidently the intention of the 
savages to butcher the former so expeditiously and effec- 



464 BENTIXCK ARM AND 

tually that not one should escape to tell the tale. In this, 
however, they were not quite successful, though many of 
the unfortunate roadmakers were barbarously slaughtered. 
The few who were enabled to save their lives — some of 
whom had been severely wounded — suffered extreme 
hardship and privation before getting clear off from the 
scene of danger. Encouraged by the manner in which this 
treacherous plot had been executed, these bloodthirsty 
wretches conceived the idea of murdering every white 
man they could find on the trail leading from Bentinck 
Arm to Eraser Eiver. 

They proceeded to the junction of the Inlet and Arm 
trails in expectation of meeting a party with pack animals 
on the latter route. Nor were their hopes disappointed. 
In this company, about eight in number, there was a 
squaw, the concubine of one of the packers. In passing 
an Indian encampment on the way, she learned from the 
tribe the sad fate of the men at Bute Inlet, and from 
devotion to her white paramour she earnestly implored 
him and his companions to return, assuring them that if 
they advanced they must all be murdered. They made 
light of her entreaties at first, but soon concluded that it 
was prudent to take her advice. When distant about 
120 miles from the Arm, the Indians, 50 or 60 strong, 
surrounded them, and fired from behind the pine-trees. 
The first of the party to fall was an esteemed young 
friend of mine, to whose excellent parents, resident in 
England, I had to perform the melancholy duty of 
announcing their son's death. Another of these men, 
an intrepid and generous Scotchman, killed several of the 
enemy, taking aim at them under shelter of a tree. 
Having exhausted his stock of ammunition, he continued 
to defend himself with what weapons he could command, 
and fought on like a true Highlander after his legs had 



BUTE INLET MASSACRES. 465 

been shot off It is estimated that between fourteen and 
seventeen whites perished in these Indian atrocities. A 
volunteer force was sent in search of the criminals by the 
energetic Governor of British Columbia, who accompa- 
nied it a good part of the way in person. Some of these 
infatuated natives have been captured, tried, and exe- 
cuted, and pursuit of the others is to be resumed this year. 
Already the efforts of the Government to bring the dan- 
gerous Indians to justice, has involved an expenditure of 
not less than 20,000/. Many conjectures have been 
offered as to the cause of these barbarities, but no satis- 
factory conclusion has yet been arrived at on the subject. 
As these incidents of Indian adventure do not pretend 
to special chronological order, I may be permitted to 
advert to an exciting passage in the experience of Sir James 
Douglas, which relates, however, to a period when he 
served in the capacity of chief trader of the Hudson's Bay 
Company at one of their posts near Stuart's Lake. The cir- 
cumstance was told me by a retired officer of the company, 
who lived nine years in the country now known as British 
Columbia, and before it became a colony. It should be 
premised that the officers of the company located west 
of the Eocky Mountains, where there was no Crown tri- 
bunal for the trial of criminals, received peremptory 
instructions from their superiors in London to be as 
unsparing in the punishment of native transgressors as 
they were bound to be faithful in fulfilling promises of 
reward to good Indians. On this principle it was expected 
that in case of a white man's life being taken by a redskin, 
they should keep up the search for the murderer, even 
should it occupy twenty years. Two employes of the 
company had been wantonly killed at a fort, two Indians 
having been concerned in the deed. One of the perpe- 
trators was caught and shot soon after the crime had been 

H H 



466 EXCITING ADVENTURE 

committed. The other escaped detection for six years. 
There was an Indian encampment in the neighbourhood 
of the fort, commanded by Mr. Douglas, whence came a 
native one day, and assured him that the criminal who 
had been so long at large was secreted in the native lodge. 
Mr. Douglas with his men armed themselves and hastened 
to the spot. It may be noticed, in passing, that wherever 
there is any supposed advantage to be gained these 
unhappy people are just as readily tempted to betray each 
other as they are to deceive the colonists. All the apart- 
ments of the lodge were found vacated, with one excep- 
tion. The chief of the tribe was giving a potlatch (feast) to 
friendly tribes who had come from a distance, and the 
inhabitants of the village had followed him to the place — 
some way off — where the festivities were being conducted. 
The only person Mr. Douglas found at home was a woman 
with a child in arms, her back leaning apparently against 
the wall. After having examined the other divisions of the 
lodge, their suspicions prompted them to look once more 
in that room where the squaw was, and they found her 
still in the same posture. They ventured this time to pull 
her from the place where she stood. Whether the guilty 
person had been apprised of the intentions of the men at 
the fort or not, I did not learn. But directly the woman 
was moved, down fell a bundle of clothes and mats, and 
out rushed the murderer ; the Hudson's Bay Company's 
employes blazed at him, but with the nimbleness of an 
eel he zig-zagged his way out of the house ; their shots 
missed him, and he was about to escape when one of Mr. 
Douglas's men levelled the butt end of his gun at him 
and felled him to the ground. But the affair did not end 
here. In the course of the day the chief and his retainers 
returned to the camp, and in consternation beheld the 
dead body of the man stretched on the threshold. The 



OF MR. DOUGLAS. 467 

squaw informed her tillicums of what had occurred. 
They instantly covered their faces with black paint, ex- 
pressive of their belligerent intentions. The war-whoop 
was raised, and all the male inmates of the lodge, armed 
to the teeth, ran helter-skelter to the fort. The gates 
were open as usual. Mr. Douglas, reposing in the security 
afforded by the consciousness of having clone his duty, 
had made no extraordinary preparation for repelling hos- 
tilities. The insensate mob, amidst threatening yells, 
forced their way into the apartment where the chief 
trader was, and, without allowing him time for parley, 
invested his commanding and portly person, threw him 
on his back, fastened his hands and feet, and bore him in 
a struggling condition to the mess-room of the fort, laying 
him on a long table, where, I suppose, he expected to be 
put to death, with torture exquisite and protracted. 
Other servants were bound after the same fashion, but a 
few took refuge in the bastion, which they declared to 
the Indians was stored with powder. They also swore 
that if the Siwashes should venture to follow them, they 
would blow up the powder magazine about their ears. 
This menace had its desired effect. The old chief guarded 
Mr. Douglas. The former insisted on knowing the 
meaning of the strange and deadly assault that had been 
committed upon one of his guests. The dignified chief 
trader affected to treat the enquiry with scorn, and while 
rolling about on the table attempting to burst his bonds, 
threatened the venerable Tyhee with the most withering 
pains and penalties of the company. But the old savage, 
knowing that he had Mr. Douglas in his power, coolly 
replied that he was in no hurry, and would wait patiently 
till the chief trader should reason with him. When Mr. 
Douglas consented to listen to his statement, he sagely re- 
marked : ' I didn't know that any murderer had smuggled 



468 FIKMNESS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 

himself under my roof with the tribes who came to the 
potlatch. If I had known that any such person was there, 
of course I should have refused him shelter — I believe 
he ought to die. But you know that by the laws of hos- 
pitality existing among us Indians, any one who intrusts 
himself to our protection is sacred while under it, who- 
ever he may be, and that we regard it a desecration to 
touch him while he is our guest.' Mr. Douglas proposed to 
atone for his proceeding by a present of blankets ; and 
the word of a Hudson's Bay Company's servant with the 
Indians being ' as good as his bond,' directly the pro- 
mise was given the chief trader was set at liberty and an 
end put to pending troubles. 

It has been stated that thievish as well as treacherous 
propensities are the rule among the aborigines. Nor is 
this surprising when the mutual suspicions which tribes 
have been trained to indulge toward one another, and the 
unmitigated degradation in which they have lived for 
countless ages, are considered. If they imagine they can 
take advantage in a bargain with impunity, they will do 
so, and, but for the firmness of the local Government and 
the presence of ships of war, the peace of the settlers 
would have been more frequently disturbed by them. 
The bravado, however, which they formerly used, with the 
view of alarming the ' King George men,' as they deno- 
minate the whites, is now seldom heard — at least in the 
island, for they are thoroughly convinced of their im- 
potence in our hands.* 

* The following is an address (translated), delivered by the Nanaimo 
Indians to the present Governor : — 

YOU, OTJE, GREAT CHIEF, — 

We, the Nanaimo Indians, have long wanted to see you and speak our 
hearts to you ; and we want Mr. Crosby to translate our words. This day 
our hearts are made very glad because we see you. You, Mr. Kennedy, 
have come from our great Queen, and we hope you have some good words 



THE LAMALCHAS. 469 

In '63 a small tribe called the Lamalchas, now almost 
extinct, caused anxiety to colonists in the smaller islands 
in the gulf by robberies. This fierce and predatory band, 
trifling though its numbers were, was a source of con- 
tinual strife and bloodshed to neighbouring tribes. It 
was headed by a notorious robber chief— the terror of his 
enemies, called Acheewun. Eavages occasioned by this 
dreaded villain and his retainers became so common that 
the police and ultimately the gunboats were obliged to 
interfere. One engagement was fought in which the 
houses of the tribe were assailed by one of Her Majesty's 
vessels. No inmates being visible, the steamer backed 
toward the beach, when suddenly fire was opened by 
the Indians from the forest, resulting in the death of 
one seaman and the wounding of others. A short time 
afterwards, a corps of loyal Indian braves was equipped, 

to speak to us from her. "We are poor dark Indians. You white people 
know more than we do. If all white people who come here were good, it 
would be better for us ; hut many teach our people to swear and get drunk. 
We hope you, our Governor, will speak strong words to them. Our hearts 
are very glad that good white people have sent ministers of the Gospel to 
us, who tell us good things about God, and teach our children to read. We 
want them to know more than we do. We want to keep our land here and 
up the river. Some white men tell us we shall soon have to remove again; 
but we don't want to lose these reserves. All our other land is gone, and 
we have been paid very little for it. God gave it to us a long time ago, and 
now we are very poor, and do not know where our homes will be if we leave 
this. We want our land up the river to plant for food. Mr. Douglas said 
it should be ours, and our children's after we are gone. We hope you, our 
new chief, will say the same. We have over 300 people in our tribe, though 
a number are away fishing now. Many are old and not able to work, and 
some of our children, who have neither father nor mother, have no clothes. 
We hope you will be kind to them. Our hearts are good to all white people, 
and to you, our great white chief. We hope you will send our words to the 
great Queen. We pray that the Great Spirit may bless her and you. This 
is all our hearts to-day. 

N.B. — The foregoing is a faithful translation of the addresses of the chiefs 
as delivered to me in council. 

(Signed) T. Crosby, Indian Teacher. 
Indian Village, Nanaimo, Nov. 15, 1864. 



470 PKOCESS OF SCALPING. 

and, under the direction of the superintendent of police, 
sent into the forest to fight the Lanialchas. They were 
enabled to break up the force of Acheewun, and capture 
the chief himself. How they succeeded in surrounding 
the enemy in the thick brush without sustaining loss of 
life, I never learned, but no adventure is more perilous 
than to skirmish when Indian sharpshooters have to be 
met lying in ambush. The chief fell into the hands of 
his pursuers, and was consigned to the gallows after a fair 
trial, with untold enormities upon his head. 

Internecine wars are perpetual among the tribes. 
There are always some old-standing differences between 
them which are liable, on the slightest occasion, to be 
revived. Grudges are handed down from father to son 
for generations, and friendly relations are never free from 
the risk of being interrupted. Lives taken in one tribe 
can only be compensated by the same number being 
massacred in another, and without regard to the guilt of 
the individuals sacrificed. It is difficult to perceive how, 
upon such a principle, the extermination of the conflicting 
parties, eventually, can be avoided. 

It is their custom to scalp every one they kill — the 
integument of the skull of an enemy slain in war being 
viewed by them as a trophy. So that he who can boast 
the greatest number of scalps is honoured by his tribe as 
the bravest man. This disgusting operation is performed 
by making a circular cut from the lower part of the fore- 
head immediately above the ears. Their teeth are then 
applied to separate the scalp. Women captured in battle 
are reduced to slavery, and doomed, often under fear of 
the lash and abusive treatment from the Indian family 
claiming them, to severe labour. In the vicinity of white 
settlements, these female slaves are sent out, as black slave 
girls have sometimes been in cities of the Southern States 



DISSIPATED WHITES AND INDIANS. 471 

to earn their living by prostitution. Subsequently to the 
tide of immigration in '58, and until the removal of a bridge 
that formerly connected Victoria with the Indian encamp- 
ment on the opposite side of the harbour, I have witnessed 
scenes after sunset calculated to shock even the bluntest 
sensibilities. The fires of Indian tents pitched upon the 
beach casting a lurid glare upon the water ; the loud and 
discordant whoopings of the natives, several of whom 
were usually infuriated with bad liquor ; the crowds of the 
more debased miners strewed in vicious concert with 
squaws on the public highway, presented a spectacle 
diabolical in the extreme. Even now one cannot walk 
from the ferry up the Esquimalt road by day or by night 
without encountering the sight of these Indian slaves 
squatting in considerable numbers in the bush, for what 
purpose it is not difficult to imagine, and the extent to 
which the nefarious practices referred to are encouraged 
by the crews of Her Majesty's ships is a disgrace to the 
service they represent, and a scandal to the country. 
Hundreds of dissipated white men, moreover, live in open 
concubinage with these wretched creatures. So unblush- 
ingly is this traffic carried on, that I have seen the hus- 
band and wife of a native family canvassing from one 
miner's shanty to another, with the view of making as- 
signations for the clootchmen (squaws) in their possession. 
On one occasion I saw an Indian woman offering to dis-, 
pose of her own child — the offspring of a guilty alliance 
with a white man — for 3/., at the door of a respectable 
white dwelling. 

So hopeless does the moral and religious improvement 
of the aborigines in the environs of Victoria appear to the 
Catholic missionaries, that the good bishop of that faith 
in Vancouver Island assured me he. felt compelled to give 
them up to their reprobate courses. These self-denying 



472 ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 

men have toiled longer and more assiduously than the 
agents of any other creed for the amelioration of their con- 
dition, and are reluctant to abandon any field of mission- 
ary operations while the least prospect of success remains. 

The bishop of the English Church, some years ago, 
erected a school to instruct, reclaim, and elevate them ; an 
able and zealous clergyman was appointed as super- 
intendent of the mission. But, as might be expected, the 
return for these well-intentioned appliances has been so 
grievously disproportionate as to be quite inappreciable. 

It should be mentioned, however, that in districts as 
yet comparatively uncontaminated by the evil example of 
pioneer whites, and favoured with the blessings of moral 
and religious instruction, gratifying results are visible, 
especially among the younger portion of the tribes. In 
South Saanich, a locality with which I am acquainted, 
where a Eoman Catholic priest is stationed, the morals of 
the natives have hitherto been in a tolerably satisfactory 
condition. But as that district is now becoming popu- 
lated with whites, it were too much to hope that the 
Indians there should form, permanently, an exception to 
other native villages trenched upon by civilisation. A 
farmer in that neighbourhood, in expressing to me his 
confidence in their honesty, remarked that ' one couldn't 
pay them to steal.' When near the village, one day, I met 
some of the people, and by the assistance of what limited 
stock of Chinook* I could command, endeavoured to 
ascertain whether they had any distinct idea of moral 
obligation. I began by saying : Nika pretre pe wawa copa 
King George men Sockally Tyhee. Mika Kumtux okook ? 
I am a minister, and teach white men about God ; do you 
understand this ? ' A woman who was present, thinking I 
• 

* The jargon which forms the chief medium of intercourse between the 
colonists and the natives. 



THEIE INFLUENCE ON THE NATIONS. 473 

was a priest, at once made the sign of the cross on her 
breast, and replied Nowitka ; Sockally TyheeSiya : point- 
ing above with her hand. La pretre yaw a nika wawa 
Klosh. ' Yes, God is in Heaven. The priest tells me what 
is good.' An old man volunteered the remark, Klosh turn 
turn nika. Wake Klosh Kapswalla — wakeKlosh Mamalush 
— wake Klosh Pire Chuck. ' I have a good heart. It is 
wrong to steal, or fight, or drink whisky.' 

Arriving at Cowitchin one summer evening, about eight 
o'clock, in a canoe, after a long day's paddling, I heard 
the sound of chanting proceeding from the native church, 
which was erected and supplied with altar furniture chiefly, 
if not entirely, at the expense of the Indians. It was a log 
structure, about 50 feet by 20, and on a high situation. At 
some distance from it, in front, a huge wooden Latin cross 
stood in the ground, that sacred emblem being usually found 
in connection with Catholic mission stations. On entering 
the church I observed a frere engaged in teaching some 
Indian lads hymns used in devotional exercises, which 
they sang with taste and vigour. On retiring they were 
careful to sign themselves with the cross. I visited the 
priest, who lived in a humble shanty adjoining the church, 
and I could not fail to be struck at the exemplary self- 
forgetfulness he manifested in his arduous work. He had 
lived there for some years before white men settled in the 
locality ; and notwithstanding the utter absence of com- 
forts, and even scantiness of necessaries that marked his 
lot, he seemed cheerful and contented. There was no 
disposition shown by him to put a brighter face on the 
results of his efforts than facts would justify. Indeed, for 
whatever favourable report I received, I was indebted to 
disinterested witnesses of his labours. I learned that on 
Sundays hundreds of natives attended religious service; that 
monogamy was generally enforced by him with success ; 



474 THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. 

and that in many other respects the morals of the people 
were correct. One case was told me of illicit whisky-dealers, 
who, attempting to land alcohol from their sloops, were 
driven off and their casks rolled into the sea. I fear we 
should look in vain for a display of similar zeal for the 
cause of morality and temperance in a white community 
of the same extent. 

In regard to the sign of the cross, to which so much 
importance is attached in the ceremonies of the Eoman 
Catholic Church, the bishop of that faith in the diocese 
of Vancouver Island related to me a touching incident. 
When that right reverend father first administered Chris- 
tian ordinances to the Indians at the mouth of the Fraser, 
they were at variance with the Nanaimo tribe. ' The man 
of prayer,' as they termed the bishop, had occasion, about 
the time referred to, to visit the latter place in his episcopal 
tour after leaving the Fraser. Those from whom he had 
recently parted felt so edified by his counsels that they de- 
termined, at all hazards, to attempt following him. From 
some cause, however, they missed him ; and as their canoes 
approached Nanaimo, to their dismay they beheld their 
foes ranged on the beach, prepared to fire upon them. For 
some time they kept at a safe distance, and held a council 
among themselves. The conclusion arrived at by them 
was as interesting as it was pacific. They argued that if 
the enemy were faithful to the instructions of ' the man of 
prayer' they would understand the sign of the cross, 
return it, and allow them to land in peace. They accord- 
ingly stood up and crossed themselves, at which signal 
the muskets of the Nanaimo men were laid aside, and a 
cordial welcome extended by them to their Christian 
brethren. It was stated to me, on trustworthy authority, 
that in consequence of Bishop Hills, of the English Church, 
when travelling in British Columbia, forbidding the Indians 



' SELF-INTERPEETIXG BIBLE.' 475 

this mode of salutation, he was subjected to some disap- 
pointment and mortification. During one of his visits to 
that colony they mistook him for a Eoman Catholic priest 
— the only description of missionary they had known up 
to that period — and adopted the sign of Christian free- 
masonry which has been alluded to. Mothers brought 
their infants to be baptised by him. But on discovering 
the Protestant bishop's opposition to their accustomed reli- 
gious forms, they declined to receive the virtue of his 
episcopal manipulations, and withdrew from him as a 
dangerous heretic ! 

I was much interested in being shown by Bishop De 
Mers a rude symbolic Bible, devised by himself for the 
use of the Indian disciples of the Eoman Catholic order. 
It consists of a long slip of paper, on which the principal 
events narrated in Scripture, from the creation of the 
world to the founding of the Christian Church, are illus- 
trated. The progressive development of the Church of 
Some from that time up to the present is also portrayed. 
The advantage of the arrangement is, that a large amount 
of general religious information is contained in remarkably 
small compass. The Hebrew version reads from light to 
left, but this e Self-interpreting Bible ' reads from the 
bottom upwards. At the foot of the page the globe 
appears emerging out of chaos, and immediately above 
stand a male and female figure with a tree between them, 
representing our first parents partaking of the forbidden 
fruit. The other details of this invention may be readily 
guessed at, till we reach the Protestant Eeformation, up 
to which point the line of instruction is intelligible and 
straight. Thence another line diverges at right angles 
from the main one, leading off the page into the abyss. 
This is marked chemin de Protestantisme. Then the 
straight path of the Church continues to Pio Nono, and 



476 SELFISH MOTIVES IN KELIGION. 

onwards still to heaven. Captain Mayne states that when 
at Kamloops, in British Columbia, the chief of the Shuswap 
tribe, pointing to such a print as I have described, hanging 
on the wall, and putting his finger upon the unhappy 
figures tumbling into the pit, laughingly said, ' There are 
you and your people,' showing the amount of credence 
that sceptical Siwash attached to it. It may be mentioned, 
in illustration of the selfish propensities of the Indians, 
even in connection with religious observances, that when 
certain members of the Songhish tribe were called before 
the Eoman Catholic bishop for confirmation, after having 
been duly baptised, they stipulated for a larger present of 
blankets to be made to them than had been given at their 
baptism as a condition of complying with Dr. De Mers' 
invitation. To rebuke the impurity of their motives in 
reference to a rite so sacred, it is reported that the 
bishop adopted the expedient of making a hole in a 
large heart which he had painted upon canvas, and draw- 
ing a blanket through it. A missionary of another sect 
was once trying to prevail upon an Indian to join his 
denominational school for natives, when, viewing the 
solicitation of the missionary as a matter of business, he 
responded in the same spirit, Nowitka, konsick mika 
potlatch. ' Yes, I'll go ; but how much will you give me ? ' 
In 1857 the first Protestant mission was established 
among the native tribes, and the progress of it embraces 
so many interesting facts as to be entitled to some notice 
here. The Church Missionary Society having had their 
attention called to the condition of the aborigines on the 
North American coast of the Pacific, determined on 
sending out a lay agent to commence operations, and 
selected Mr. Duncan, who was trained at Highbury Col- 
lege, London, for that purpose. After careful delibera- 
tion as to the most eligible district in which to exercise 



mr. Duncan's labours. 477 

his functions as a Christian teacher, he proceeded to Fort 
Simpson, a fur-trading depot belonging to the Hudson's 
Bay Company, and situated about a thousand miles north 
of Victoria. This region, containing a large Indian popu- 
lation, afforded him special facilities for prosecuting mis- 
sionary enterprise. The first obstacle of moment he 
encountered was that selfishness deeply rooted in the 
savage breast to which reference has just been made. 
In a passage from his diary on the subject, Mr. Duncan 
writes : — 

To-day a chief called, whose principal anxiety was to ascertain 
whether I intended giving dollars to the Indians to get them to 
send their children to school. 

I think I shamed him a little — at least, I tried to do so — for 
entertaining such a selfish notion. 

I have a good many visitors, and all seem desirous of ingra- 
tiating themselves . . . 

When they Leg, which is generally the case, I mostly satisfy 
and always lessen their expectations by saying that I have not 
come to trade. This opens a way to telling them what I have 
come to do for them; and in every case, as soon as my object 
is realised, I hear the oft-repeated * ahm, ahm ' (good, good), 
and their faces exhibit every expression of joy of which they 
are susceptible. ... It is a pity we cannot put their sincerity 
to the test at once, but I feel that it would not be prudent to 
do so. 

Another difficulty mentioned by this worthy labourer, 
as threatening to interfere with the consummation of his 
wishes, is ' their jealousies and feuds.' It was not long 
before his patient and conciliatory manner won their con- 
fidence, so that they applied to him for advice in sickness 
and trouble. He was soon received in their houses with 
every mark of respect. They often assigned him the chief 
place near the fire, where they always placed a mat upon 
a box for him to sit upon. 



478 HINDRANCES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 

In the erection of a new school-house, they supplied 
planks for flooring, and bark for the roof ; the liberality 
of some even impelling them to take boards off their own 
roofs and the pieces that formed part of their beds. 

In a few months the school numbered 100 children 
and 50 adults. Four tribes resolved to abandon the 
abominable practices connected with the celebration of 
' medicine feasts.' Still, these orgies of heathenism being so 
closely associated with the traditions of the natives, could 
hardly be expected to be renounced all at once. But to 
be instrumental in shaking so remarkably the attachment 
of these people to their ancient follies, indicated the 
presence of an influence which only the principles of 
Christianity could exert. 

I am thankful (writes Mr. Duncan) that I am able to say 
there is amongst the Indians a great stir of opinion against their 
heathenish winter-customs, and four of the tribes out of nine 
have indeed cut them off. Those tribes which still adhere to 
them are carrying them on exceedingly feebly, so much so that 
I am assured by all whom I speak to about the matter, that 
what I now see is really nothing compared with what the system 
is when properly carried out. They tell me they were afraid to 
cast the custom away all in one year, but would rather that 
part of it should go this year, and the remainder next ; so, 
according to this, I sincerely hope that this is the last winter any 
of these savage practices will be seen. 

Afterwards the following paragraph occurs in his 
journal : — 

Every day shows me more and more what a dense mass of 
ignorance I have come in contact with. I have also now to 
meet all the evil reports continually emanating from very evil 
and superstitious persons. Some are watching I believe for a 
calamity to arise and explode the work. Others are in suspense, 
hoping we shall succeed, but feel afraid we cannot. Some keep 
a scrutinising eye over all our movements, and when they feel 



OPPOSITION OF A 'MEDICINE PAETY.' 479 

satisfied we have no tricks to injure them, I suppose they will 
countenance us. But we go on, and I am glad to hear every 
day, in contrast with the incessant and horrid drumming of the 
medicine-men, the sweet sound of our steel calling numbers to 
hear and learn the way of life. 

On leaving the school this morning, I spoke to a man who is 
of considerable power and influence in the camp, as to why he 
did not send his children to school, and come himself. He 
replied that he was waiting till the Indians had done with their 
foolishness and dancing, which time was not far distant ; then 
he would come. He both wanted himself and his children to 
learn, but would not come yet, as it is not good, he said, to mix 
his ways and mine together. He intended soon to give up his, 
and then he would come to school. This afternoon he just 
dropped into school simply as a gazer ; he would join in nothing. 

Again he writes : — 

I inspect them [his pupils] daily. Some few have ventured 
to come with their faces painted, but we have less of it daily. 
A good many too have cast away their nose-rings, yet some 
come who have very large ones in use still. 

After school-teaching was over this morning, a chief remained 
behind — he had a serious difficulty. His people, who had before 
decided to give up their medicine working, were beginning to 
repent of their decision. According to the chiefs statement, 
they professed themselves unable to leave off what had been 
such a strong and universal custom among them for ages. 

I was told . . . that the head chief of the Indians is going 
to ask me to give up my school for about a month, his complaint 
being that the children running past his house and from school 
tended to unsettle him and his party from working their mys- 
teries. 

... I see now that, although I have been as careful as pos- 
sible not to give unnecessary offence, yet a storm is in the 
horizon. 

As I went through part of the camp on my way to- the school 
this morning, I met a strong medicine party full in the face . . 
Their naked prodigy was carrying a dead dog, which he occa- 
sionally laid down and feasted upon. While a little boy was 



480 SCENE AT THE MISSION SCHOOL. 

striking the steel for me at school, some of the party made their 
appearance near the school, I imagine, for all at once the boy 
begun to be irregular and feeble in his stroke, and when I 
looked up at him, I saw he was looking very much afraid. On 
enquiring the cause, he told me the medicine folks were near ; 
I told him to strike away, and I stood at the door of the school. 
Some few stragglers of the medicine party were hovering about, 
but they did not dare to interfere with us. When all were 
assembled, and the striking ceased, my adult pupils commenced 
a great talk . . . After a little time the chief came, and told 
me the Indians were talking bad outside, by which I under- 
stood that the medicine folks had been using more threats to 
stop us. 

. . . On nearing the Fort, I met one of the most important 
men in the medicine business — a chief, and father to one of the 
little boys that are being initiated . . . He told me that if they 
did not make their medicine-men as they had always been used 
to do, then there would be none to frustrate the designs of these 
bad men who made people sick, and therefore deaths would be 
more numerous from the effects of the evil workings of such 
bad men. 

This morning the medicine party, who are carrying on their 
work near to the school, broke out with renewed fury, because, 
as they assert, the child of the head chief had just returned 
from above. The little boy that lights my fire came in great 
excitement to tell me that the head chief was not willing for 
me to have school to-day, and was anxious to know if I intended 
going. He seemed greatly amazed at my answer. On going to 
school I observed a crowd of these wretched men in a house 
that I was approaching. When they turned to come out, they 
saw me coming, and immediately drew back till I had passed. 

This afternoon a boy ran to strike the steel, and not many 
seconds elapsed before I saw the head chief approaching, and a 
whole gang of medicine-men after him, dressed up in their usual 
charms. The chief looked very angry, and bade the boy cease. 
I waited at the door until he came up. His first effort was to 
rid the school of the few pupils that had just come in. He 
shouted at the top of his voice and bade them be off. I imme- 



THE ANGRY CHIEF. 481 

diately accosted him, and demanded to know what he intended 
or expected to do. His gang stood about the door, and I think 
seven came in. I saw their point ; it was to intimidate me by 
their strength and frightful appearance, and I perceived the 
chief, too, was somewhat under the influence of rum. But the 
Lord enabled me to stand calm and without the slightest fear 
to address them with far more fluency in their tongue than I 
could have imagined possible. ... I told them that Grod was 
my master, and that I must obey Him rather than them. 

... I saw a great many people at a distance, looking anxiously 
at our proceedings. Nearly al] my pupils had fled in fear. 
The chief expressed himself very passionately ; now and then 
breaking out into furious language, and showing off his savage 
nature by his gestures. Sometimes I pacified him by what I 
said for a little time, but he soon broke out again with more 
violence. Towards the close of the. scene, two of his con- 
federates — vile-looking fellows — went and whispered something 
to him ; upon which he got up from a seat he had just sat down 
upon, stamped his feet on the floor, raised his voice as high as 
he could, and exhibited all the rage and defiance and boldness 
that he could. . . . 

We had not gone on long before the chief returned to school. 
He gave a long knock on the door with a stick. I went to 
open it, and my pupils began to squat about for shelter. When 
he eame in, I saw he was in rather a different mood ; and he 
began to say that he was not a bad man to the white people, 
but that he had always borne a good character with them. . . . 

The leading topics of the chief's angry clamour I may class 
as follows : — He requested four days' suspension of the school. 
He promised that if I complied, he and his people would then 
come to school ; but threatened, if my pupils continued to come 
on the following days, he would shoot at them. Lastly, he 
pleaded that if the school went on during the time he specified, 
then some medicine-men, whom he expected on a visit shortly 
from a distant tribe, would shame and perhaps kill him. 

Some of his sayings during his fits of rage were that he under- 
stood how to kill people, occasionally drawing his hand across 
his throat to show me what he meant ; that when he died, he 

I I 



482 TEMPTATIONS. TO CONVERTS. 

should go down ; he could not change ; he could not be good ; 
or if I made him good, why then he supposed he should go to a 
different place from his forefathers; this he did not desire 
to do. 

On one occasion, while he was talking, he looked at two men — 
one of them a regular pupil of mine, and the other a medicine- 
man — and said, ' I am a murderer, and so are you, and you 
(pointing to each of these men) ; and what good is it for us to 
come to school ?'.... 

While in school there was a frightful outburst of the medi- 
cine parties, setting the whole of the camp round about in a 
kind of terror. A party were with their naked prodigy on the 
beach when I went out of the school. 

From these extracts some idea may be formed of the 
vexations borne by Mr. Duncan at the beginning of his 
career. But a noble ambition to elevate the social and 
religious condition of the Indian lightened the burden of 
his toils. Such an enterprise was sufficiently onerous to 
one cheered by the presence of Christian sympathy ; but 
his isolated situation, struggling without a pious com- 
panion of either sex to share his anxieties and labours, 
was fitted to deepen the interest felt by the religious 
public at home in his behalf. 

At length a clergyman and his wife were sent to his 
assistance ; but after a short residence were obliged to 
return to England from ill health. Again he was left 
alone ; and although his physical strength was impaired 
by the pressure of his duties, his zeal was not relaxed. 
Finding, however, that the proximity of the company's 
fort to the native settlement offered temptations to his con- 
verts, and exposed them to the demoralising visits of illicit 
rum-traders, he resolved to move to a safe distance from 
the snares attending the liquor traffic. He accordingly 
chose a suitable neighbourhood for the new sphere of his 
operations, about twenty miles up the Simpson Eiver, called 



NEW CHRISTIAN SETTLEMENT. 483 

Metlakatkh ; and during the past four years a work has 
been accomplished there whose success has rarely if ever 
been equalled in the history of missions to the heathen. 

Only those natives who agreed to give up idolatrous 
and immoral practices, and strictly conform to the regula- 
tions under which the new Christian settlement was 
formed, were permitted to enjoy its advantages. A severe 
probationary course was imposed, and many in attesting 
their sincerity submitted to it patiently, and are now 
exemplary in the performance of their moral and religious 
duties. It was made a condition of citizenship that each 
house should be built, no longer resembling the Indian 
lodges, but according to a civilised plan. For this pur- 
pose prepared timber is imported, and shingles for roofing 
are manufactured by the natives. Habits of cleanliness 
and modes of dress like those prevailing among white 
men are enforced. Besides large mission premises, a 
public market and court-house have been erected, and 
separate apartments are provided for the accommodation 
of Indian tribes who come to trade, that the filth and 
effluvia attaching to the persons of these strangers may 
not be allowed to pollute the dwellings or the society of 
the fixed inhabitants. After zmreformed tillicums have 
taken their departure, the building occupied by them 
during their stay is cleaned and fumigated by the resi- 
dents, according to a definite sanitary arrangement. A 
school for instruction in the rudiments of an English 
education is established, roads are in process of forma- 
tion, and an efficient body of native police is organised, 
the force being equipped in a semi-military uniform that 
compares favourably with what is worn by the constabu- 
lary in Victoria. A prison also exists, and magisterial 
jurisdiction is intrusted to Mr. Duncan, who was invested 
by Governor Douglas with a commission of the peace. 

i i 2 



484 INGENUITY OF THE NATIVES. 

To sustain the public administration of the native colony 
a tax is levied, payable in money, blankets, or produce. 
As the commerce, agriculture, and manufactures of the 
settlement are developed, Mr. Duncan contemplates en- 
couraging the general circulation of United States currency 
instead of barter as the medium of business negotiations. 
Adult statute-labour is also required in making roads. 
To enable the people to meet personal and Governmental 
claims, they are trained to various branches of industry, 
such as cultivating the soil, extracting oil, hunting furs, 
gathering berries. Skilled occupations are also gradually 
being introduced among them. A schooner has recently 
been purchased for conveying native commodities to Vic- 
toria, and bringing back supplies. When the colleague 
of Mr. Duncan came to Victoria in charge of freight some 
time since, he assured me that it met with a ready sale, 
and in that one trip he realised in behalf of the native 
exporters several hundred pounds. If that interesting 
settlement can be so far civilised before the -vices of the 
whites approach it (which they are certain to do eventually 
in the progress of adventure and British colonisation), 
as to be rendered proof against immoral contagion, 
who can tell to what extensive proportions the present 
nursling may grow ? 

The tribes are by no means destitute of ingenuity. 
Their canoes, which are made by hollowing out the 
trunks of trees, are finished with taste and skill, and are 
believed to supply the pattern after which clipper ships 
are built. Their carvings in slate and chasing in metals 
are usually neat, and some of the Songhies manufacture 
elegant rings and bracelets out of gold and silver. In a 
short time, and for a small consideration, they will beat 
out a sovereign to its utmost tenuity, fold up the extended 
gold, and return it to the owner in the form of a finger-ring. 



INDUSTRIAL AKTS AND MISSIONS. 485 

The matting and ornamented slippers they prepare are 
well known. Let this faculty for contrivance but be 
diverted into channels of more economic value, and an 
important step has been taken towards the civilisation of 
these aborigines. It is to the achievement of this object 
that the exertions of Mr. Duncan are directed in conjunc- 
tion with the inculcation of Christian teaching ; and the 
statements of that gentleman, to which I have had an 
opportunity of listening from his own lips, are such as to 
impress the most incredulous with the conviction that 
the undertaking is practicable. On suggesting to him, 
the desirableness of his translating excerpts from the 
Scriptures into their language, he replied that it would 
be his endeavour to make English so general among the 
people as the medium of speaking and writing, that such 
labour would be rendered superfluous. I have heard 
read, by Mr. Duncan, letters written in English by young 
men under his care — some of them love letters — and I 
have no hesitation in saying that they would do no dis- 
credit to farm-labourers of the same age in England. 

I am not personally familiar with the working of 
British missions in Polynesia ; but from interviews I have 
had with eminent missionaries who have spent many years 
among the native islanders of the South Seas, I infer 
that secular knowledge and the industrial arts of civilised 
life had not at first so special a place assigned them in 
the missionary programme as they now have. These 
indispensable auxiliaries of civilisation did not, I know, 
formerly receive from American missionaries in the 
Sandwich Islands the attention they merited, and, conse- 
quently, the results of their zealous and sincere exertions 
were, in most instances, sadly out of proportion to the 
time, strength, and money expended in connection with 
their work. I trust I do not detract from the dignity of 



486 KELIGION AND CIVILIZATION. 

the missionary calling or from the power of the Christian 
religion in suggesting that the arts and institutions of 
civilised life ought to be fostered side by side with the 
communication of religious instruction. These arts and 
institutions create new and elevating social relations, and 
open up the most worthy spheres to be found in this 
world for the exercise of Christian virtues, the strengthen- 
ing of heavenly principles, and the development of the 
Divine life. 

The Protestant doctrine of ' justification by faith alone/ 
when accepted in a suitable manner, it is admitted, sup- 
plies to frail humanity the grand motive-power for a new 
life. But that the Gospel may not degenerate, as it too 
often does, into sentimentalism or fanaticism, the duties 
of the regenerate state must be systematically and con- 
tinuously placed before the convert for the enlightenment 
of his conscience, the control of his feelings, and the 
guidance of his purposes. At the beginning of a Christian 
career there is experienced an earnest desire to evince 
gratitude to our heavenly Father for the discovery that 
has been made of high and comforting truth. But for 
the spiritual force inherent in that sentiment to be pro- 
perly utilised, the various relations of the man to the 
affairs of this life and the next should be explained, 
and the particular duties belonging to these relations 
clearly enunciated. For safe and speedy travelling by 
locomotive, rails must be laid as well as steam generated, 
and without attention to the cultivation, in detail, of those 
moral habits, industrial enterprises, and refined accom- 
plishments that go, collectively, to make up what we de- 
signate civilisation, we shall look in vain for the full 
realisation of that multiform blessing. This is true even 
in regard to Christendom ; how much more so, therefore, 
to the abodes of Paganism ! 



THREATENED EXTINCTION OF NATIVES. 487 

To those missionaries, therefore, who have been adopt- 
ing the exclusively religious plan of action, I commend 
the enlightened example of Mr. Duncan. 

The rapid diminution and threatened extinction of the 
primitive inhabitants of the American continent and the 
islands of the Pacific, is a fact of melancholy interest to 
the Christian philanthropist and the man of science ; and 
the enquiry naturally arises whether the exclusively Evan- 
gelistic method generally adopted by missionaries is the 
most effectual that could be devised to avert this doom. , 

The Indian population of North America three centu- 
ries ago was estimated at 20,000,000. Now it does not 
reach 2,000,000. Progress toward decay has been almost 
equally remarkable among the aborigines of South 
America. In 1776, when Captain Cook visited Tahiti, 
the native population of that island numbered 200,000 ; 
and by a census taken twelve years ago, it was shown to 
be reduced to 8,000 or 9,000. The Sandwich Islanders, 
who about the same period numbered 400,000, in 
November 1849, only reached 80,641, with an excess of 
deaths over births of 6,465 annually. In an official report 
of the condition of the aborigines of Australia, published 
a few years ago, their case was thus described : ' The uni- 
form result of all enquiry on the subject of the numbers 
of the Australian aborigines exhibits a decrease in the 
population of those districts which have been overspread 
by colonial enterprise.' An Adelaide newspaper, pub- 
lished subsequently, contained the following statement : — 
4 The steady disappearance of the natives is what every 
report upon their condition most uniformly points to, al- 
though everything is done that could promise to alleviate 
the discomforts of their condition.' The native Tasmanians, 
notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of benevolence and 
religion to save them, it is understood, have all without 



488 FATE OF INDIAN KACES. 

exception perished. In 1830 the number of the Maories, 
with whom the colonial authorities of New Zealand have 
of late been unhappily brought in collision, was estimated 
at 180,000. Two years ago that superior aboriginal 
population was found reduced to .55,275. The present 
war will, doubtless, immensely augment the rate of 
diminution. It has been calculated that at the end of 100 
years hence their extinction will be complete. An able 
writer, ' On a Point too much lost Sight of on Missions,' 
in discussing this topic, aptly remarks : ' Macaulay's oft- 
quoted saying about the possibility of a future New Zea- 
lander yet surveying the ruins of London Bridge and the 
great metropolis around, is often applied by the unthink- 
ing to some civilised descendant of the present Maori race. 
But the historian was far too well read to commit himself 
to so wild an imagination — it must have been some one 
sprung from the white colonists he had mentally before 
him when he wrote.' The Indians of the Delaware, 
memorable as having been favoured with the self-sacri- 
ficing labours of David Brainerd, are reported to be now 
wholly extinct ; and the Bible which that indefatigable 
missionary, at so much pains translated into the native 
tongue, is now consequently a dead letter to every Indian 
living in the New World. Humboldt, when visiting 
South America in 1806, was shown a parrot which chat- 
tered in a language that no one could understand, and 
the reason was discovered to be that every vestige of the 
tribe accustomed to use that particular form of speech 
had been effaced from the globe. The fate of the native 
churches of Greenland and Labrador, associated with the 
eminent devotion of the Moravian pioneers, points in the 
same gloomy direction. Already the enquiry has been 
suggested in view of primitive races so rapidly disappear- 
ing, whether instruction in the useful arts and training in 
modes of civilised language, customs, and government 



WHAT OF AFRICANS, HINDOOS AND CHINESE? 489 

should not invariably be allied with the inculcation of 
Christian doctrine, and employed as auxiliaries in arresting 
the progress of decay, and raising them in the scale of 
humanity. The author, from whom I have just quoted, 
touches on a question of equally vital moment, which 
ought to be seriously pondered by the directors of mis- 
sionary societies in Europe and America, who expend such 
vast sums of money annually in attempting to convert the 
heathen. ' We strongly hold,' says he, ' that missions to 
tribes about to depart, leaving behind them so few traces 
that they ever existed, are much less important, than those to 
nations destined to increase in number and in influence for 
centuries yet to come' 

There is, unquestionably, great force in the remark 
ascribed to the late Duke of Wellington, and addressed 
to a clergyman who was sceptical as to the propriety of 
so much enthusiasm being displayed by Christians at home 
in the conversion of Pagans, while so much ignorance, 
vice, crime, profanity, and squalor invited the efforts of 
devout philanthropy in civilised communities of the old 
world and our colonies. The ' marching- orders ' of the 
Divine Commander-in-chief must be implicitly obeyed. 
But no one who has happened to possess opportunities of 
personally inspecting the results of certain ' foreign ' mis- 
sionary operations can withstand the temptation to consider 
the subject from a human point of view, and in the light 
of absolute fact. We are painfully familiar with the 
sweeping annihilation of the aborigines that has followed 
contact between them and the white races in the Caribean 
Sea and many parts of the American continent. Preceding 
statistics would seem to excite apprehensions of the almost 
certain extinction, eventually, of the natives in Polynesia. 
We naturally cling to the hope that Africa, India, China, 
and Japan will, in the permeation of these countries with 
the concomitants of civilisation, form a splendid exception 



490 CHANCES OF BARBAROUS RACES SURVIVING. 

to the ravages introduced by the superior races, under 
which so many millions of aborigines have elsewhere been 
effaced. The future development of our political, social, 
and commercial relations with these countries may be 
attended with modifying circumstances that will secure 
the realisation of our humane desires and Christian hopes, 
and render civilised intercourse with them more of an 
unmingled blessing than it has proved in the case of the 
decaying tribes to which reference has been made. So 
limited is the extent, however, to which these seats of 
barbarism have been occupied by the whites that we are 
unable as yet to determine whether extensive contact 
between them and the original inhabitants will be suc- 
ceeded by tribal dissolution, as in the instances previously 
cited. If our opinions be influenced by the analogy of 
history — as they cannot fail in some measure to be — we 
must acknowledge that there is some occasion for fear. 

Past events bearing on this topic incline me to the 
impression that the chances of a barbarous people surviving 
the fatal consequences of their country being largely popu- 
lated by the white race are simply in proportion as the 
degree of intellectual and moral vitality possessed by the na- 
tives may be adequate to resist the virus of demoralisation by 
which they are inevitably impregnated on first being brought 
in contact with white society. The races that are pal- 
pably falling to decay were predisposed, perhaps by ages 
of growing degeneracy, to absorb the moral poison with 
which they have been inoculated by the whites.* Shall the 
barbarous tribes with whom we are, as yet, but partially 
in communication, be prepared to stand the momentous 

* Let it not be supposed that the excesses of civilisation are the sole cause 
of savage tribes melting away. I have been informed by those who were 
stationed at forts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the wilds of the interior, 
where the strictest abstemiousness was practised, that the natives in their 
neighbourhood died off. The plainest diet used by the white man, if adopted 
by red skins, is of itself sufficient to occasion depopulation among them. 



FEAR AND HOPE. 491 

test when, in future generations, it comes to be severely 
applied ? Shall they have the stamina requisite to bear 
the shock inflicted by our vices, and to conserve the power 
requisite to assimilate the good we have to impart ? 

The empire of the Incas, the subjects of Monte Zuma, 
and the fellow-countrymen of Pochahantas, exhibited 
intellectual and moral qualities compared with which 
those of the most favourable African types are not worthy 
to be mentioned. Nevertheless, at the appearance of the 
adventurous explorers who arrived from the shores of 
Europe, by whom their countries were severally invaded, 
they vanished like a dream. Is the fear, then, utterly 
groundless that under similar conditions, in future ages, a 
corresponding fate may overtake the Negro race ? For the 
Chinese, Hindoos, and Japanese, I anticipate, as has already 
been stated, a more promising destiny. Defective as are 
their respective systems of morality and religion in compari- 
son with Christianity, Brahminism and Buddhism both con- 
tain moral precepts, and set before their votaries patterns 
of virtue calculated to enkindle pure and exalted aspira- 
tions. The existence of caste in India precludes the free circu- 
lation of ennobling principles among the great body of the 
natives. Not so, however, in China, where, notwithstanding 
the professed absolutism of the Emperor, a healthful spirit 
of democracy prevails in political, social, and religious life, 
and receives discipline and guidance in no trifling degree 
from a national system of education adapted to brace the 
faculties alike of rich and poor, who enter the lists as 
competitors for literary honours. The same remarks are 
substantially applicable to the Japanese. Still, the nearest 
approach we can make to a solution of the problem 
affecting the full contact of these varieties of the Mongo- 
lian type with certain portions of the Caucasian race is, 
at best, only conjecture. 

The observation of some in barbarous countries has 



492 HOW IS A NATION CIVILISED? 

prompted the question, how far the distinctive peculiarities 
of the Christian religion are entitled to credit as an agency 
in civilisation? It has been asserted that a nation is 
civilised merely to that degree in which it comprehends 
and obeys the laws, ascertained by experience, which 
govern physical and moral life, and that a barbarous 
nation, if at all susceptible of being elevated permanently in 
enterprise, principle, and conduct, ascends to the level of 
the superior people, by finding out, in the first instance, 
in what respects it can profit commercially by friendly 
understanding with them, and then, by spontaneously 
conforming to the spirit, customs, and ultimately laws of 
those with whom it thus becomes profitably associated. 
It is maintained that the primary step towards the social 
improvement of a hopeful Pagan nation consists in appeal- 
ing to that strongest susceptibility in our common nature, 
the principle of self-interest, and that the result will be a 
desire for increasingly nearer relations, till at length the 
faith and practice of the more cultivated nation are imi- 
tated. But upon this point the mind of the reader, like 
that of the writer, believing in Christianity, is probably 
made up, thus rendering argument in opposition to such 
a view unnecessary. At the same time it is to be regretted 
that there should be so much ground apparently for scep- 
ticism as to the efficiency of religion in the process of 
civilisation. How feeble the hold it often takes upon 
those most conversant with its doctrines, and how com- 
paratively slight the reformation it sometimes produces 
among the heathen ! It is, indeed, distressing that the 
enemies of the Christian faith should have so much room 
for casting at us the reproach that the evil practices of 
the white man have ever been more potent to ruin the 
aborigines than his Gospel is to save them. 



493 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

EMIGRATION. 

Inducements offered — Classes encouraged to emigrate — Capitalists wanted 
— Manufactures that might be introduced — Climate inviting to retired 
Officers and Men of moderate Means — Openings for respectable Females 
— Dancing round a Bonnet — Cautions to Emigrants — Rates of Wages — 
Prices — Routes from England — Hints as to choice of Vessel and Outfit 
— Hindrances to colonial Progress — Necessity for direct Postal Commu- 
nication with England — Claims of young Colonies on the Aid of England 
— Trade for an English Steamer in the North Pacific — Contrast between 
the United States and England in their Care for New Territories — Error 
of the Government in disposing of Irish Emigration — Emigration the 
most important Question of the Day. 

The inducements offered by these colonies to persons in 
the parent country desirous of improving their condition 
have been already submitted in the delineation of their 
varied resources and industrial pursuits given in preceding 
pages. Gold, silver, copper, coal, timber, fisheries, agri- 
culture, and commerce, compose the main elements of 
our colonial wealth. But that the country may be 
enriched by these they must be developed by the expendi- 
ture of the circulating medium and the application of 
labour. 

In enumerating the classes for whose reception these 
colonies are prepared, I should emphatically assign 
capitalists the foremost place. It is only the enterprise of 
individuals and companies possessed of adequate means 
that can make the country as rapidly prosperous as the 
invaluable and inexhaustible resources it contains would 



494 EMIGRATION. 

justify us in expecting it should become. These remarks, 
however, are not intended to throw any discouragement 
in the way of emigrants who can carry nothing with them 
but skilled labour. The sequel will show that no other 
British colonies at present yield higher remuneration to 
the industrious artisan in proportion to the expense of 
living. 

But we want capital to open the way for the wider and 
steadier employment of labour. The success of the few 
wealthy firms that have entered the field and engaged in 
large enterprises foreshadows the vast profits waiting to 
be reaped by those who are prepared, without delay, to 
follow their example. It is admitted that one or two 
English companies proposing to take up certain mining 
schemes have met with reverses. But it is well known 
that the failure of their plans has arisen mainly from the 
unsuitable character of agents selected for carrying them 
out, or from not laying their basis of operations in an 
economical manner. 

Throughout England there is a large number of handi- 
craftsmen, not absolutely in the situation known as ' from 
hand to mouth,' who, nevertheless, have great difficulty in 
finding standing room or making headway in the com- 
petitive struggle incident to the crowded business-high- 
ways of the parent country. This is a class that I invite 
to emigrate to our North Pacific colonies, in the full 
assurance of their doing well. Lumbermen with money 
sufficient to erect their own saw-mills ; parties of copper 
miners who would unite their limited capital and be 
prepared to work on for a couple of years without seeking 
extraneous help ; salt manufacturers, in a position to dig 
their wells, and fix their pumps and evaporating pans ; 
millers with means enough to construct and run a pair or 
two of stones ; pitch and resin manufacturers who could 



CLASSES NOT WANTED. 495 

employ hands to extract the crude materials from our pine 
forests ; fishermen from the British coasts accustomed to 
sail their own vessels ; managers of collieries desirous of 
starting business on their own account ; tile and coarse 
pottery manufacturers ; glass and bottle blowers ; 
brewers ; graziers, pig-feeders, curers, and packers of pork ; 
persons in the petroleum oil trade with a good connection 
in New York; dealers in oil-lamps importing from the 
same city ; importers of American cooking and heating 
stoves from some place of manufacture in the eastern 
States ; carpenters, cabinet-makers, wheelwrights, engine- 
drivers, saddlers, blacksmiths, stonemasons, compositors, 
boiler-makers, brass-founders, tailors, English and Ame- 
rican boot-importers, and shipbuilders. Skilled labourers 
and shopmen of these various kinds, if possessed on land- 
ing of from 1001. to 500/., and resolved to exercise for a 
few years a moderate amount of patience, discretion, and 
application, are certain to succeed. There, doubtless, are 
many other branches of industry which do not happen to 
occur to me at the present moment, that, in the hands of 
small capitalists, would prove as remunerative as any that 
have been specified. 

Let it not be supposed, however, that I am urging, at 
this early period of our colonial existence, the indis- 
criminate emigration of mere labour. Men of bold heart 
and strong arms will carve their way anywhere, and what 
might seem insurmountable difficulties to others, will dis- 
appear before them. But those destitute of these qualities 
and of capital besides, are counselled to seek their fortune 
in some older and more settled community. 

Clerks, poor gentlemen of education and breeding in 
quest of Government appointments, governesses, school- 
masters, adventurers without funds and trained to no par- 
ticular employment — all such classes are cautioned not to 



496 EMIGRATION. 

come. Openings even for them, however, will, in the 
course of events, arise when the development of the 
country is more advanced. 

It is unnecessary to repeat what has been already said 
in the chapter on agriculture respecting the advantages 
offered to small farmers with large families and to farm 
labourers. 

Officers retired from service in the army and the navy, 
and other gentlemen having a few thousand pounds at 
command, would find Vancouver Island a delightful place 
of residence, and have no difficulty in meeting with safe 
and profitable investments. Their means are at present 
perhaps put out in property, mortgage, bank shares, foreign 
bonds, or the public funds, bringing them in from 4 to 7 per 
cent, per annum ; while in Vancouver Island from 1^ to 2 
per cent, per month may at any time be obtained, and in 
some parts of British Columbia from 3 to 4 per cent, per 
month on unquestionable landed security. The climate, 
especially in the island, would be found peculiarly in- 
vigorating to constitutions debilitated in tropical latitudes, 
and the scenery lovely beyond description. The same 
amount of capital, if rightly invested, would furnish a 
larger share of the comforts of life in Vancouver Island 
than it possibly could in England. Within a few miles of 
Victoria it is in the power of a gentleman of small fortune 
to buy an extent of acreage that in the vicinity of an 
English town would be valued as a handsome estate. 
Building his own house, the only expensive item in living 
would be servants, which supply of eggs, milk, &c, raised 
on his farm, would more than counterbalance. 

Eespectable females, neither afraid nor ashamed to work 
as domestic servants, are greatly in demand. Strong and 
active young women, qualified to serve as efficient cooks 
and housemaids, would have no difficulty in obtaining 



DEMAND FOR FEMALES. 497 

from 4Z. to hi. per month and board. So much is the 
want of this class felt, that if 500 girls of good character 
and industrious habits could be sent out in detachments 
of fifty in each vessel, and at intervals of a month, they 
would be absorbed almost immediately on their arrival. 
But the presence of this sex is as urgently required on 
social and moral grounds. There are many well-disposed 
single men prospering in the various trades and professions, 
who are anxious to adopt the country as their home. 
But the scope for selecting wives is so limited that they 
feel compelled to go to California in search of their in- 
teresting object, and not unfrequently are they tempted to 
remain on American soil — their industry as producers and 
expenditure as consumers being lost to the colonies. There 
is no territory on the globe presenting to unmarried 
virtuous females such opportunities of entering that state 
upon which every right-minded woman cannot but look 
with approval. 

Through the liberality of Miss Burdett Coutts and 
others, we were favoured some years ago with two ship- 
ments of female immigrants about 120 in all. There was 
too little care exercised in the selection of them, by those 
directing the movement, and some, in consequence, turned 
out badly. But all who conducted themselves properly 
have had offers of marriage, and most of them have long 
since become participants of .conjugal felicity. 

An amusing example of the homage paid to women 
by the mining population was related to me by a friend 
who pursued that calling for a while in California. He and 
his companions of the same camp had for a year and a half 
been toiling where the beams of a woman's smile did not 
reach them. The news arrived on one occasion of a 4 lady ' 
having come to a place twenty miles from where they were 
located. They instantly laid aside their picks and shovels, 

K K 



498 EMIGRATION. 

and agreed upon celebrating the event by enjoying a few 
days' holiday. When they came to the longed-for spot, 
the poor fellows found their bright hopes balked ; no fair 
form such as their imagination had depicted was visible. 
But they were fortunate enough to alight on a woman's 
bonnet, and soothed their disappointed feelings by forming 
a ring and dancing round it. 

Emigrants should guard against the error of supposing 
that employment is most certain of being secured in large 
towns. Melbourne, San Francisco, and, more recently, 
Victoria, Auckland, and Dunedin, furnish proofs of the 
folly of remaining long in such centres, after a vigorous 
attempt has been made at settlement. A large and sud- 
den influx of people into the sea-ports of gold-producing 
countries is necessarily attended with a temporary glut in 
the labour market. ' When thousands rushed to Melbourne 
in 1850 and succeeding years, instances of starvation, dis- 
ease, and other miseries, were not infrequent. ' I have 
seen,' writes a resident in that city, 'scores of persons 
sleeping about the wharves, and in iron boilers, packing- 
cases, or on the bare earth.' In the city of Victoria, in 
1862, it was equally distressing to observe numbers of 
young men, whose minds were inflamed with romantic ideas 
of making sudden fortunes, and who had left comfortable 
homes without having any distinct knowledge of the hard- 
ships to be undergone, in that year, before the mines could 
be reached, or the gold extracted, driven to the necessity 
of earning a living by working on the roads. Poor im- 
migrants, whatever be the sort of business to which they 
have been trained, should, under all circumstances, be de- 
termined, on their arrival, to accept without murmuring 
whatever occupation comes first to hand, rather than allow 
the wolf inside their doors. So far from engaging in hum- 
ble labour putting any barrier in the path of an immi- 



EATES OF WAGES. 499 

grant's advancement, if lie possess qualities to fit him for 
higher spheres, he will in the end be more respected for 
the courage and endurance displayed in his state of appa- 
rent humiliation. I have known a youth begin his career 
as a colonist by breaking stones for a road contractor. 
His master, a cultivated man, learning the social position 
of the lad's family, and his personal claims to notice, soon 
had him as a visitor at his house, upon terms of perfect 
equality with his family. Now, by dint of energy, that 
young man has become partner in a respectable establish- 
ment in the colony. But my advice to new comers gene- 
rally is, that if they experience dark prospects in the cities 
on the coast, they should lose no time in looking for some- 
thing to do in the districts of the interior. 

Those who have a wish to try mining life, and are 
unacquainted, practically, with its hazards and privations, 
should endeavour to consider soberly, beforehand, whether 
theh: hopes of success are well founded. Multitudes have 
prospered in digging for the precious metal beyond their 
most sanguine expectations; many more, whose knowledge, 
tact, and perseverance would seem to render them equally 
deserving of a fortune, have failed. That will continue to be 
the order of things. Only let the mind of the hardy mining 
emigrant be made up on this point. The mines are a spe- 
cies of lottery, and luck more than diligence has often to do 
with the result of mining operations. 

Bates of wages can only be specified here generally. In 
all cases labour commands at least three times the remune- 
ration it does in England, and often much more than that. 
Blacksmiths, bricklayers, painters, wheelwrights, &c, re- 
ceive about 16<s. per day; house carpenters from 12s. Qd. 
to 16s. per day; bakers from 8/. to 121. per month; 
butchers from 121. to 16Z. per month ; barbers, when on 
their own account, usually charge 2s. Id. for haircutting 

K K 2 



500 EMIGRATION. 

and Is. for shaving ; as assistants they receive from 9/. to 
15/. per month, draymen 8/. to 10/. per month, firemen 
10/. to 12/. per month, gardeners 7/. to 10/. per month, 
jewellers 1/. per day, choppers 8/. per month, harness- 
makers 8s. to 16s. per day, shoemakers 10s. 6 c/. to 12s. 6 d. 
per day, tinners 12s. 6d. to 16s. per day, upholsterers 16s. 
per day, waiters 5/. to 10/. per month, lumbermen 10/. 
per month, laundresses receive 8s. 4c/. per doz. for wash- 
ing and dressing shirts, machinists 16s. to 1/. per day. 
These figures give a specimen of the rates of wages cur- 
rent in Vancouver Island. 

In British Columbia carpenters get 1/. per day in the 
interior towns, and 12s. 6c/. in New Westminster. The 
wages of ordinary labourers vary from 12s. to 16s. per day ; 
blacksmiths get from 1/. to 21. per day in the season, but 
expense of living is proportionately high ; axemen are paid 
from 10s. to 16s. per day at Lilloet, and 21. per day at 
Cariboo. The demand for labour hitherto in British Co- 
lumbia has been small, but as the capital is introduced and 
enterprise set agoing in the numerous departments of 
industry, situations for men able and willing to work may 
be had to an unlimited extent. 

The prices of ordinary articles of food are moderate. 
Beef sells at 9c/. per lb., mutton at 10c/., veal 10c/., pork 
10c/., vegetables 2d., wheat 2d., barley 2d. to 2\d., sugar 
(crushed) 8c/., ham Is., ground coffee Is. 6d. to 2s., tea 
2s: to 3s., coal-oil 4s. 2d. per gallon, apples 3c/. to 4c/. per lb., 
oranges 4s. 2d. per doz., venison 5c/. to 6c/. per lb., ducks 
(wild) from 2s. to 5s. per pair. Every kind of fish at an 
incredibly low figure. 

Boots and shoes can be had at an advance of from 25 
to 35 per cent, upon English prices. 

Crockery fetches high prices. This article, with every- 
thing connected with bedding, ought to be taken or sent 



PRICES. 501 

by the emigrant round Cape Horn. Furniture, with the 
exception of carpets, can be had cheaper at San Francisco 
or Victoria, than it would be worth after freight had been 
paid upon it brought from England. 

The price of most descriptions of dry goods may best 
be estimated, for the most part, by adding 30 per cent, 
advance upon cost. Clothes made in the colony are enor- 
mously expensive, but tailors' work is usually executed 
with great neatness. 

Bricks cost from 37s. to 40,9. per 1,000 (made in the 
colony), lime 9s. per bhl. Eough boards and scantling SI. 
per 1,000 feet, shingles 11. per 1,000, flooring (tongue and 
grooved) 51 10s. 6d. per 1,000 feet, pickets 3/. per 1,000, 
laths 16s. per 1,000. Allsop's bottled ale, per 2 doz. (pts.) 
10s. 9d. to 13s. ; colonial brewed, 1 doz., 9s. ; Martel's 
pale brandy, 15s. per gallon; Old Tom, 16s. per case, or 
5s. per gallon ; whisky, 16s. per case, or 5s. per gallon ; 
Jamaica rum, 6s. to 8s. per gallon ; wine (Port), 6s. per 
gallon ; claret, from 21. to 10/. per doz. ; sherry, 1/. 5s. to 
3/. per doz. 

House rent is likely to remain high in the colonies. A 
small wood house, consisting of three rooms and a kitchen, 
rents from 11. to hi. per month. The settler will see 
the desirableness of buying a lot in the town or suburbs, 
and erecting upon it his own dwelling as speedily as 
possible. 

The rate of living increases as we ascend the Fraser. 
Mr. Brown informs us that at present (1863) living costs 
at New Westminster 3s., at Lilloet 4s., in Cariboo 20s. a 
day ; or if one boards at an hotel, at New Westminster 
21. per week, at Lilloet 2/., in Cariboo 61. ; or for single 
meals at an hotel one pays, at New Westminster 4s., at 
William's Lake 6s., at William's Creek 10s.* In Cariboo 

* Essay on British Columbia. 



502 EMIGKATION. 

prices are much reduced since this was written. The 
letter of a correspondent in Eichfield, dated August 30, 
1864, gives flour at Is. Id. per lb., bacon 3s., beef Is. Sd., 
sugar 3s., tea 5s. to 7s., coffee 4s. to 6s. ' Clothing,' says 
the writer, ' can be had here for an advance of 25 to 50 
per cent, on Victoria prices, and nearly as low as the same 
could be had in Victoria two years ago.' These prices 
may still seem high, but when compared with what they 
formerly were, and when it is considered that a distance 
of 500 miles intervenes between New Westminster and 
Cariboo, over which provisions have to be packed, the pro- 
fits realised will be deemed reasonable. When the Bute In- 
let and Bentinck Arm routes shall have been fully opened, 
however, a further sweeping reduction will be the result. 

There are four available routes to these colonies at pre- 
sent at the option of passengers from England. One I 
have already indicated in the first Chapter, viz., via 
St. Thomas, W. I. The fares by it to Victoria are 73/. 9s. 
(and upwards, according to position of cabin) 1st cabin ; 
53/. 15s., 2nd cabin; 39/. 15s., 3rd cabin. Female ser- 
vants are charged 45/. 5s., and male servants 39/. 15s. 
Children under 12 years of age, half-price ; under 6 years, 
quarter-price ; a single child to each family, free. Lug- 
gage over 50 lbs. weight is charged on the Panama Bail- 
way, at the rate of hd. per lb, to each passenger. The 
time occupied by this route is about 40 days. The dis- 
tance from Southampton to Aspinwall is 4,500 miles, and 
from Panama to Victoria is 3,950 miles, making 8,450 
miles. 

The second route is by New York, and thence to Aspin- 
wall. If the Cunard steamer is taken from Liverpool to 
New York, the first cabin fare will be 26/., and the second 
17/. The Inman line is cheaper, and the excellent steam- 
packets belonging to Malcolmson Brothers, running be- 



ROUTES TO THE COLONIES. 503 

tween London and New York, charge fares still lower. 
The latter company has accommodation for first, second, 
and third class passengers. To first-class passengers, not 
pushed for time, the accommodation in the first cabin of 
these steamers will be found satisfactory, considering the 
smallness of the fare. But for perfect arrangement and 
speed the Cunarcl steamers carry the palm. The Pacific 
Mail Steamship Company announced, in October 1864, the 
following rates of passage from New York to San Fran- 
cisco : Ladies' saloon, outside, $264 (52/. 16 s.); inside cabin, 
$238 (47/. 12,s\); second cabin $184 25c. (36/. 16*.); 
steerage, $130 50c. (26/. 2s.). 

Prom San Francisco a steamer sails for Victoria in a day 
or two after the arrival of the one from Panama ; the 
charge for passage being $45 (9/.) in the cabin, and $20 
(4/.) in the steerage. 

The opposition line of steamers, owned by Mr. Eoberts, 
of San Francisco, used to run between New York and that 
city once a month, at fares much below those specified 
above. But as the arrangement of this line is not fixed, 
I am unable to do more than suggest to the emigrant the 
propriety of making enquiry for himself on the subject. 
The passage from Liverpool via New York to Victoria 
consumes about 43 days. 

The third route is overland : by railway from New 
York to St. Louis (Missouri), and thence by the same 
mode of conveyance to Atchison. At the latter place a 
stage-line, running daily, takes passengers across to Placer- 
ville in California, giving them an opportunity of seeing 
the notorious Mormon State of Utah. There is a railway 
from the terminus of the stage in California to Sacramento 
City, and a steamer down the Sacramento Eiver to San 
Francisco. For the information of any who may have a 
penchant for perilous situations, and may not have pre- 



504 EMIGRATION. 

viously enjoyed the felicity of being jolted to death in over- 
land conveyances, it may be mentioned that the distance 
travelled by coach on this route is over 2,000 miles ; the 
stopping-places are thirteen miles apart ; and meals are 
furnished at 2s. to 4<s. each. The necessaries of life 
supplied on the road are said to be of an inferior descrip- 
tion. If you choose summer for the trip, you may lay 
your account with being roasted ; if winter, of being 
frozen. Should passengers desire to lie over at any point 
on the way, they run the risk of being compelled to wait 
a much longer time than they had anticipated before 
finding a vacancy in succeeding stages. 

In the present disquieted condition of the Sioux and 
Pawnee tribes, whose hunting-ground is traversed by the 
stage, the better part of valour, I think, consists in avoid- 
ing the dangers of the track. The fare from New York 
to Atchison is #41 (8/. 4s.) ; thence to Placerville, #200 
(40/.) ; thence to San Francisco, #10 (21.)— in all, #251 
(50/. 4s.), without cost of meals and extra luggage. The 
time occupied in the journey, from ocean to ocean, is 
twenty-four days. 

The fourth route, and the only one practicable for poor 
families, till a waggon-road can be constructed from Eed 
Kiver to British Columbia, across British territory, is that 
via Cape Horn. This involves a voyage of between four 
and five months — not a much longer period, however, 
than is spent in going to New Zealand. As there is no 
room for competition between shipping firms in trade with 
these distant and partially-developed colonies, the fare is 
higher than it would otherwise be. The first cabin is 60/. 
the intermediate, 40/., and the steerage 30/. Children 
under fourteen are charged half-price. 

The vessels that are acknowledged to combine, in the 
highest degree, comfort, safety, and expedition are those 



CHOICE OF A VESSEL. 505 

belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company. One sails from 
London in spring and another in autumn, making the pas- 
sage in about four months. 

Messrs. Thompson, Anderson, and Company also de- 
spatch vessels at intervals. 

I would urge, upon individuals and families resolved to 
proceed by the Horn route, the importance of using strict 
caution and making careful enquiry in selecting a ship, 
though her owners should possess high commercial repu- 
tation, and her qualities be grandly paraded in advertise- 
ments. If the vessel be old, there is danger ; if her state- 
rooms be dingy, the effect upon the spirits of crew and 
passengers will be obvious. Let personal inspection be 
made also of the stores, as far as possible. The cha- 
racter and bearing of the captain should be well ascer- 
tained; or a good ship maybe rendered utterly intolerable 
under the direction of a bad commander. 

The higher attainments required in shipmasters nowa- 
days tend to elevate their profession, and to attract to it 
men superior, as a class, to navigators of the departing 
generation. There are many captains in the mercantile 
navy of England, whose affability and politeness go far 
to enliven the monotony of the longest voyage. Some, 
however, are still afloat, whose vulgarity and petty tyranny 
at sea neutralise completely the happiest effects of fair 
weather and the best fare. If pains be not taken to have 
these matters adjusted to your satisfaction before embark- 
ing, the penalty of neglect may have to be paid in the 
endurance of protracted misery. 

A vessel should be chosen that has a height of not less 
than six or seven feet between decks, and compartments 
roomy. 

If the condition of your exchequer necessitates that you 
should go in the steerage, get near the centre of the 



506 EMIGKATION. 

vessel, where motion is least felt. Procure, if you can, a 
berth extending lengthwise in the ship, else the inconveni- 
ence of having your feet raised occasionally higher than 
your head will have to be sustained. 

If a wife and family be in the party, it should be seen 
that not only the berths are sufficiently wide, but that 
ample space is reserved for keeping private stores, and 
such other comforts as forethought may deem to be need- 
ful for the voyage. 

Steerage passengers, who may arrange with the owners 
to furnish their own provisions, should be very particular 
as to where they buy. Instances could be related of 
heartless imposition practised by dealers in ship's-stores 
upon unsuspecting emigrants. 

The most agreeable and economical method of emigra- 
ting is for a company, having business, tastes, religious 
denomination, or some other common tie, to unite in 
preparation for the voyage, and place themselves under 
voluntary discipline in relation to each other. 

Information in regard to suitable outfits for the voyage 
may be obtained by consulting friends who have gone 
through the experience of a four or five months' passage, 
or from any respectable outfitter in Liverpool or London. 

The outfit of a miner having come to the country, and 
about to proceed to Victoria for the mines of British 
Columbia or Vancouver Island, usually consists of the 
following articles : — 

2 woollen shirts, 4 pairs of worsted socks, a pair of 
leather top-boots, a pair of Indian-rubber mining-boots, a 
strong pair of trousers, an Indian-rubber coat, 2 pairs of 
blankets, a small tent. 

No British colonies encounter such gigantic hindrances 
to progress and settlement as those to which the attention 
of the reader is directed. They contain every element 



POSTAL COMMUNICATION. 507 

adapted to contribute to the happiness and wealth of 
every class of emigrants. But being situated on the 
extreme western verge of British North America, they are 
the most remote and inconvenient of approach of all 
our dependencies. It takes what many an industrious 
artisan would esteem a fortune to transfer a large family 
to them from England, by the Panama route. Several 
months and no inconsiderable amount of money is ex- 
pended in adopting the cheapest and yet most tedious 
route, via Cape Horn. 

So pressing are the internal claims of these colonies, 
the necessity of making roads, and carrying forward other 
public improvements, that no share of the local revenue 
can be spared, at present, for the purpose of granting 
assisted 'or free passages to intending settlers. No special 
organisation exists in Great Britain, as has been established 
by other colonies in the parent country, for the encou- 
ragement of emigration to the North Pacific ; and no 
plans have been laid for taking charge of immigrants on 
their arrival and until they find a habitation, except that 
Government agents are appointed in the agriculture dis- 
tricts to show where unappropriated lands are to be 
found. 

The proximity of Oregon and California, as has been pre- 
viously intimated in this volume, place us under grave dis- 
advantage, these States being agriculturally superior to the 
colonies, and possesshag mineral resources equally rich, 
but more easy of access and more fully developed. 

We are even denied that great essential of commercial 
prosperity as British dependencies — direct postal commu- 
nication with England. Our letters are conveyed from 
New York to Aspinwall, and from Panama to Victoria, in 
foreign bottoms. The result is, that many of our news- 
papers are lost, and our letter-mails are often detained, 



508 EMIGKATIOK 

through the negligence of those whose interest it is not 
to promote our convenience. Not only are there no other 
British colonies in the predicament of which we complain, 
but foreign republics on the south-west coast of America 
enjoy the privilege of having their mails carried from 
Europe all the way in British steamers. 

No colonial possessions ever founded by Great Britain 
promise to be of greater political or commercial value to 
England than these ; yet, judging by the short-sighted 
policy which threatens to prevail henceforth in the councils 
of the nation in regard to the indiscriminate requirement 
that new colonies,. irrespective of every modifying circum- 
stance, should be self-supporting from the first there are 
none that have less fostering assistance to hope for from 
the Imperial Government. 

The prestige derived by Great Britain from her colonial 
territory has invested her with an overpowering splendour 
in the eyes of jealous European neighbours. This has done 
more to thrill those rival empires with salutary awe and 
evoke from them respectful behaviour, than her supremacy 
in commercial or manufacturing industry could have 
accomplished. It is the possession of her colonies which 
enables her to give expression to that proud sentiment 
concerning ' the flag upon which the sun never sets.' 

Again, statistics, which always secure the consideration 
of minds too practical to be influenced by sentiments 
affecting national glory, clearly demonstrate that more 
than one half the exports from the United Kingdom go to 
the colonies. 

The total declared value of English and Irish produce 
exported to all foreign countries in 1859 was 84,267,533/.* 
Ditto, ditto, ditto, to all British colonies, 46,143,996/. 

With what sort of treatment is this greatness reflected, 

* For details, see Note. 



POLICY OF THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 509 

and profit conferred on the parent country by her depen- 
dencies, requited ? We are told that the colonies are no 
more now to Great Britain than are foreign countries 
except nominally, and that goods imported by them from 
England are taxed as from other parts. But the first 
part of this statement is contradicted by facts ; and as to 
the customs duties imposed by most of the colonies, their 
wisdom in this respect should be commended. From du- 
ties on imports a revenue can be raised, interfering less, 
in most instances, with the industrial interests of the 
country than any other method of taxation would be 
likely to do. Still, though British wares are taxed, they 
are imported. 

It is to be regretted that the Secretary of State for the 
Colonies, under whose administration the present depen- 
dencies were founded, in a despatch to the late Governor 
indorses this ungenerous policy : — 

The lavish pecuniary expenditure of the mother-country, in 
founding new colonies, has been generally found to discourage 
economy ... to interfere with the healthy action by which a new 
community provides, step by step, for its own requirements. It 
is on the character of the inhabitants that we must rest our hopes 
for the land we redeem from the wilderness. 

No exception can reasonably be taken to the theory 
submitted in these remarks, provided it be applied with 
discrimination. Where extravagant habits are induced in 
young dependencies by unscrupulous reliance being placed 
upon the aid of England, that abuse of maternal kindness 
may soon be detected and the remedy applied. But when 
colonies arise so distant from the Imperial centre, as these 
are ; when their settlement is retarded for want of facilities 
of transit from Great Britain; when their resources, 
which would augment immensely her wealth, are sealed 



510 EMIGRATION. 

also from this cause ; when a route from England through 
them to her ports in Australia and China could be made 
that would surpass all existing or possible routes in speed, 
do not political necessity, mercantile sagacity, and common 
sense combine to indicate that the Home Government 
should relent, and modify the application of the rule, 
in this case, which they have laid down so rigidly ? 

Without much expense, they can at least remove any 
obstacles which the tenacious monopoly of the Hudson's 
Bay Company may interpose to the opening up of an 
emigrant route from Eed Eiver to British Columbia. 
Those competent to judge are confident that the returns 
certain to accrue to Canada and the parent country from 
such an undertaking would soon more than compensate 
the outlay. But until mails could be despatched overland 
through British territory, we surely have claims upon the 
Imperial authorities to aid us in subsidising a British 
steamer from Panama, connecting with the intercolonial 
steamer which plies between St. Thomas, W. I., and 
Aspinwall. 

Already there is nearly enough trade between different 
parts of the north-west coast of America and England 
to make a steamer answer independent of Government 
subsidy. She could touch at as many ports in Central 
America and Mexico as might be thought advisable. The 
navigation laws of the United States would admit of her 
discharging and loading at San Francisco. She would 
secure the chief part of the traffic between that port and 
Victoria, up and down. 

At the office of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 
in San Francisco, I was informed that nearly 200 tons 
of freight a month from England to the northern coast 
of the Pacific arrived by their vessels. If the opposition 
steamers convey as large an amount, here is an important 



CONTRAST BETWEEN THE STATES AND ENGLAND. 511 

item for an English steamer to look to at the outset. From 
the table showing the quantity and destination of treasure 
shipped from San Francisco to all parts in 1863, it appears 
that out of #46,071,920, the gross sum, #28,467,216 
went to England. A share in carrying this specie also 
might safely be calculated upon. The tonnage arriving in 
San Francisco from these colonies in 1863 amounted to 
46,605 tons, and the amount sent thither from San 
Francisco in the same year was 78,335 tons. A consider- 
able portion of this was conveyed per steamer, many of 
the consigners being English firms. During the same 
period #2,935,172 in treasure was shipped by banking 
houses from Victoria to California, nearly all of which 
went by steamer. 

The contrast between the United States and England in 
caring for the growth of new territories is decidedly 
unfavourable to the latter. England, in defining land to be 
erected into a colony and passing an Act of Parliament to 
that effect, leaves to the settlers, however few and impo- 
tent they may be, the task of establishing leading com- 
munications, executing surveys, and completing postal 
arrangements. If the population be unequal to these under- 
takings, they must be postponed till colonial finances be- 
come capable of sustaining them. The Federal Govern- 
ment, on the other hand, assumes the responsibility of 
giving effect to all works of magnitude necessary to bring 
an infant settlement to maturity, and indemnifies itself for 
the outlay incurred, by mortgaging the lands, and the 
revenues derivable from customs and other territorial 
sources. In this matter Yankee liberality is only equalled 
by Yankee shrewdness. It invariably turns out that works 
urgent and useful, thus undertaken, are speedily made to 
defray the cost of their construction. The Americans 
have learned that whatever contributes to augment national 



512 EMIGRATION. 

wealth by developing the resources of new territory is not 
inconsistent with public economy. Even lunatic asylums 
and libraries are not forgotten in the early attentions 
bestowed upon an embryo state by the Federal power. 

A few years ago the mail service to California, by several 
routes, was subsidised. The stage plying semi- weekly, 
during the travelling season, from St. Louis and Memphis 
vid El Paso to San Francisco, received $600,000 per 
annum. The mail service from San Antonio to San 
Diego received $200,000 per annum. The stage from 
Kansas to Stockton vid Santa Fe, a monthly service, 
received $80,000. The stage between San Joseph and 
Placerville vid Salt Lake city — at that time running once 
a week — was subsidised to the extent of $320,000 per 
annum. Besides these annual sums granted to overland 
routes, $738,250 was paid annually to contractors for car- 
rying mails from New York and New Orleans, vid Panama, 
to San Francisco ; $250,000 per annum for mail communica- 
tion between New Orleans and San Francisco vid Tehuan- 
tepec; and for local mail service $508,697 per annum. This 
$550,000 was spent, and a loss of $377,000 incurred, in 
affording postal facilities to the states on the Pacific, and 
in promoting the settlement of the country intervening 
between the Atlantic and the Pacific* 

Some exertion has been made by the British Govern- 
ment, during the past forty years, in aiding the passage of 
needy subjects abroad ; but it has generally been confined 
to periods of famine or industrial distress, and as much 
care has not in all cases been taken, as concern for 
national advantage should have prompted, to give our 
colonies the benefit of this tide of emigration. In the 
year 1847, and subsequently, the bulk of emigrants from 
Ireland were sent to the United States. It is probable 

* Pemberton. 



THE IRISH IN AMERICA. 513 

that those objects of British bounty would be the last to 
find fault with their destiny in this respect. But did 
England act wisely for her present interest and ultimate 
peace in not using more effort to direct the stream of 
Irish population to British territory? The poverty-stricken 
multitude, shipped by the liberality of England to a foreign 
country, have for the most part risen in the social scale 
and multiplied ; they continue to send remittances for 
bringing over poor relations. They naturally ascribe their 
improved condition to the freer institutions of America, 
and unite in a howl of execration, waxing louder and 
more threatening every day, against the parent country, 
as the author of all the want, wretchedness, and ignorance 
they have left behind. Now, had we adopted systematic 
measures to induce the Irish that have gone, to emigrate 
to our colonies, they would as really have come into the 
possession of plenty there, and, instead of the curses which 
they persist in fulminating against us, from the cities and 
prairies of the great republic, they would have returned 
us blessing and gratitude as their benefactors, and have 
regarded their increasing comforts as due to British 
generosity. 

But what is the result of our remissness in this matter ? 
Out of 5,137,837 — the total number of emigrants from this 
country from 1815 tol861— only2,039,867 went to British 
colonies, while 3,097,970 went to the United States ; and 
personal observation in America justifies me in asserting 
that the bulk of those millions who have ceased to be of us 
are the avowed enemies of Great Britain. ' The Fenian 
Brotherhood,' an Irish organisation, is said to number 
already 500,000. Their agents are incessantly agitating 
in all parts of the United States. Their object is to foment 
hatred against England, and large sums are contributed 
by them to be in readiness for the exigencies of war, 

L L 



514 EMIGKATIOK 

whenever the propitious hour arrives for dragging the 
United States into collision with England. Part of their 
programme being to take Ireland, is it beyond the 
limits of possibility that this hostile race, animated by 
bitterness proportionate to the closeness of their former 
relation to us, and so rapidly multiplying on the other 
side of the Atlantic, may, ere many centuries elapse, 
descend, like the Goths and Vandals of antiquity, and lay 
Britain in ruins ? * 

The subject of emigration ought to be regarded by the 
Government and philanthropists as the most important 
national question that can engage public attention, for 
there is none more vitally connected with the ameliora- 
tion of poverty and the reduction of crime. It is the 
glory of England that so many excellent plans have been 
devised for relieving the wretched and reclaiming the 
vicious. Eagged-schools and churches, Dorcas, Bible, 
tract, and mission societies, private charities, and poor-law 
unions, are benevolent agencies above all praise. But to 
render them thoroughly efficient, it does seem that some 
supplemented arrangement is wanted to separate the 
classes we seek to benefit from the depressing associations 
by which they are surrounded, and give them a fresh 
start in life. The squalor of the back streets and alleys, 
which many inhabit in London and provincial towns, must 
exert an enervating influence upon their minds sufficient 
to frustrate the most powerful appeals of the missionary 
and the kindest efforts of the charitable. There is nothing 
in the cheerless dwellings they occupy, or the filthy lanes 
in which they are crowded together, to excite high aspira- 

* The above was in print before the sad news of the assassination of 
President Lincoln reached England. I would fain hope that the hearty and 
universal sympathy expressed by this country for our neighbours, on the 
occurrence of that outrage, may tend to smooth down entirely threatened 
differences. 






THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. 515 

tions or aid them in carrying out the good resolutions 
to which they may be persuaded. In some instances, 
children in these neighbourhoods may be found rising- 
above the degraded position in which they were born, 
and becoming active and respectable members of society. 
But the great mass go on receiving eleemosynary help and 
instruction, without ever acquiring sober and industrious 
habits. When want and care press heavily upon them, 
what wonder if they should resort to drink as the cheapest 
and easiest mitigation of their distress ? 

We are told that four-fifths of crime in Great Britain is 
traceable to drunkenness as its cause. But what is the 
root of that vice in the poor ? Usually, misery of some 
sort. If so, it is not enough to preach total abstinence 
to such unfortunate creatures. The bitter can only be 
effectually expelled by the introduction of the sweet. Im- 
prove their material condition ; place them in situations 
where they will not only be saved from the risk of starva- 
tion, but enabled to supply themselves with home- com- 
forts by the labour of their hands. 

Opportunities for doing this are necessarily limited in 
an old and densely-populated country, where labour of all 
kinds is a drug. Plainly, then, it is the duty of all who 
desire the prosperity of their less favoured fellow-subjects 
to encourage their emigration to parts of the empire 
affording full remunerative employment for those who are 
willing to work. Let benevolent persons be content with 
merely doling out regular assistance to needy families, 
without every exertion being made to induce them to help 
themselves, and without their being removed where they 
can live above dependence upon others, and charity so ad- 
ministered but tends to perpetuate idleness and poverty. 
The splendid workhouses erected in Birmingham and 
other large towns throughout the kingdom may appear to 

L L 2 



516 EMIGRATION. 

indicate a laudable care for the poor. But it is questionable 
whether, as often conducted, they may not be offering a 
premium on laziness. 

Is not the bulk of our criminal population derived from 
the abodes of poverty and vice ? We may inflict the 
severest penal discipline upon this class, and send the 
younger portions of it to reformatories. But if, after 
suffering the appointed term of imprisonment, they are 
allowed to return to their accustomed haunts and per- 
nicious companionships, what is there to prevent them from 
again becoming infected ? It were surely more service- 
able to drain the fountain than to stem the current. Not 
that I would advocate, in opposition to the approval 
of colonists, the transportation of criminals to our colonies. 
Still the experiment might be tried of encouraging young 
liberated criminals to emigrate at the public expense, 
and of providing special employment for them in some of 
our distant possessions, under the direction of Government 
agents. Coercion, in this instance, I am aware would be 
out of the question. But while free passages should be 
offered to the very poor and the reformed criminal classes 
with whom these remarks are concerned, emigration 
lecturers should be provided by the Imperial Government, 
for the specific purpose of instructing them in the 
advantages of colonisation. If much of the time and 
means devoted by the philanthropic to the support of 
many in indigence and sometimes in sloth were applied in 
the manner just described, the investment, which in the 
former case I cannot but designate as misplaced benevo- 
lence, would in the latter become eminently reproductive, 
and do more to thin the ranks of pauperism, vice, and 
crime, than most of the appliances at present in operation 
put together. 

In the report of the Emigration Commissioners for 



EMIGRATION. 517 

1863, it is stated that the total number who emigrated in 
that year was 223,758. 14,000 left England for New 
Zealand, 17,000 for Canada, 20,000 for Victoria (Australia), 
and over 10,000 for Queensland. Only 118 are entered 
for British Columbia. This small figure for a settlement 
which so much requires population is an irresistible argu- 
ment for the adoption of active steps to encourage, 
stimulate, and direct the course of those who may be dis- 
posed to seek a home in the colonies of the Pacific. 

This report, which abounds with information respecting 
other colonies, is astonishingly meagre in reference to these 
important possessions. The report is dated April 1864, 
and the latest information it communicates from British 
Columbia is dated September 1863, and that is of the most 
trifling character. 



518 



COLONIAL STATISTICS. 



OS 

GO 






5* 



d 




CQ 








« 








1 


a 
U 


r»o 


-^ 


3 

•<>> 


Pn 




-a 


6 


o 


<s> 


O 


r< 


^j 


-K> 






d) 


£s> 


C3 


-o 


J4i 


© 



•I 



r>o 



6 



aa^as 



ijlll 



5 o 
o i=) § 

Pel 



<#Olfl U5 (NWOOStDlO 

QOWO i- 1 HHTfCOC0O5 

, -* -rt< CO O c ^, rH „ ^ t ^, (7 ^ c *, 

'co"aT~tf~ <n" ic^aT^co'e^T 

co o oo co xh a a 7-i 

CN i-l CO W.0O5 r-l 



•petfsixqnd sujiiq.9J 0£t 



wiJEogcoooS'oooo'M'S 

g 2 »» S HW'* S © <^ ts 

o o — i-T — oT <aT — m oo" — "g 

CCWh OS +3 



8 ° o 

ft ° 



*^a 
P3 



l o o 



j3 xH r- 1 oo ira to co c^ooj 
p cefaToo r-T co~crt-"co~cd'»o" 
£h j« -^ CD OS I 



CM OS r^ -* tOOJH 



« 



OHMOOOSI 

fflHOlOOl 

d eo t-^co^oqj 

HO OO CO~co"rf ' 
<M CO <M tH 



H © W t- » S 



o d 
H8 



rt » w oo to N O W IM Tf OS 



OlO^OCT-* 



CO CO OS <M OS CO »0 ■ 

ce mio o oo n a ' 



*ft Co'^t^CETr-TctTuj 
t- r-l rj( !N CO CD 



ass 

111 



O CO 

CM OO^-^O^r-^lO^CO^iO^r-^O^t--^ 

cT ©" riT t-* «>" ©~ co" ko" t-^ co" oo" 

H^OiO®tDrtlCDM020 



M 

f^r? 



II 



T(l O OS O CM CM 



O0 CM 00 t~ •># 

_ cm cm os © os 
oo o esT 



00 K5 135 115 t» t- ' 

o -<# i— i e» i— i co ■ 

^lOHWOSH! 



OS t- 00 >d «5 i 



rtrt® WNi 



lOONffiONNt-WtDM 
tOOH05t-t-COCD(Ni»^ 
CfCOHOHiOIMO) OO^U^CO 

cm' co"t-^t-^o"co , crt-^-i< co co 

Tt<OSt~CCCOCOCOr- IrlOOt- 
OOHNINHMiOrt 



•S w g £8 

3 a? o J? c3 S .2 5 f? § £ 



CO 




s 




CO 


CO 


of 






OJ 


r» 




CO 


^>< 


00 




OJ 


00 


1^ 




oo 


I— 1 


T— 1 




<* 


^ 


OT 


(M* 








s 


i— i 






TO 




(/) 


ro 




£j 


rH 


'fl 


^ 


CO 


.s 


PQ 


CO 


B 


m 


■a 


2 


t-j 


3 


03 


Or 


i 


o 


t+J 


c 


CJ 
53 

r-l 


O 
"+3 


o 


•I 

PQ 


fS 


1 


05 
US 


S3 



42 o 



O Ph 
Ph M 

a w 

rd 



s i 

o © 

a -B 

2 * 

.^ ^ — 

•* - -s 

rd _£} 

•r 1 rH 

fe <D 

^ Ph 

oT »>; 

45 co 

-M co 



fi 



a ot 

O +a 

° § 

1 a 



13 S 



APPENDIX. 



The following extracts from a pamphlet published by Messrs. 
S. W. Silver & Co. contain valuable practical directions to 
emigrants : 

Provisions. — Provisions, more especially as regards the third- 
class, are issued according to the Government dietary scale. 
Infants under twelve months go free. Children under twelve 
years pay half price, and are entitled to half rations only. 
The following are the rations ordinarily issued in first-class ships; 
the quantities quoted represent the weekly allowance for each 
adult : — 



Articles 


Second Cabin 


Intermediate 


Steerage 


Preserved meats and soups 


2 lb. 


1 lb. 


1 lb. 


Beef .... 






u» 


x 4 )) 


H„ 


Pork . 












1 » 


l „ 


Bread 










1 " 

^2 » 


H » 


^2" )J 


Flour 










3 „ 


3 „ 


2 „ 


Oatmeal . 










1 „ 


1 I 


1 » 


Bice 










i 

2" V 


i „ 


*» 


Peas 










2 V 


i 

2 V 


1 1 

±2 7) 


Preserved potatoes 










1 „ 


i„ 


1 
-» 2 " 


Suet 










6 oz. 


6 oz. 


6 oz. 


Cheese . 










8 „ 


— 


— 


Butter . 










12 „ 


6 oz. 


4 oz. 


Tea 










2 „ 


2 „ 


2 n 


Coffee . 










4 „ 


2 r, 




Sugar 










1 lb. 


i ib. 


1 lb. 


Loaf sugar 










6 oz. 


— 


— 


Baisins . 










i lb. 


Mb. 


£lb. 


Pickles or vinegar 










1 gill 


i gul 


1 gill 


Mustard . 










2 0Z « 


| OZ. 


\ oz. 


Pepper . 










4 )) 


i 

4 ;; 


i v 


Salt 










2 „ 


2 „ 


2 „ 


Lime juice 










6 „ 


6 „ 


6 ;; 


Water . 










21 quarts 


21 quarts 


21 quarts 



520 APPENDIX. 

In this list no mention is made of first-class passengers, who 
dine at the captain's table, where they fare as well, in all good 
ships at least, as in the best English hotels. 

Size of Ships — Emigration Officers. — The size of ships is 
important on a long voyage. Vessels under 500 tons do not 
afford sufficient accommodation and safety to emigrants. In 
ships above 500 tons the size is less material, so that the vessels 
are good, comfortable, and dieted on a liberal scale. The 
Government has appointed officers, whose duty it is to look after 
the interests of emigrants and other passengers on long sea- 
voyages. They see that emigrant vessels are sufficiently pro- 
visioned with good and wholesome stores. Vessels about to 
carry emigrants are detained in harbour until the regulations on 
this head are complied with. The following is a summary of 
the minimum scale which must be served out to third-class 
passengers, stating the weekly rations to be provided for each 
adult : — 

Government Rations. — Beef, 20 oz. ; pork, 16 oz. ; preserved 
meats, 16 oz. ; suet, 8 oz. ; butter, 4 oz. ; biscuit, 4 oz. ; flour, 56 oz. ; 
oatmeal, 16 oz. : peas, ■J lb. ; rice, 8 oz. ; preserved potatoes, 8 oz. ; 
carrots, onions, or celery, four-fifths of an oz. ; cabbage, 1 oz. ; 
raisins, 6oz.; tea, 1 oz. ; roasted coffee, 2 oz. ; sugar, 12 oz. ; 
bread, 8 oz. ; water, 21 quarts ; mixed pickles, 1 gill ; mustard, 
\ oz. ; lime juice, 6 oz. ; salt, 2 oz. ; pepper, i oz. 

Inspection. — Besides ascertaining the quantity and inspecting 
the quality of victuals, the Government officers have to see that 
all the other provisions of the ' Passeugers' Act * are carried out 
— viz., that the ship carry the proper crew, steward, cooks, and 
doctor, and that she be provided with boats in proportion to 
the number of her passengers. In one word, stringent regula- 
tions have been made for the comfort and safety of emigrants. 
Still a great deal depends upon a liberal interpretation of the 
law on the part of the shipowners. Emigrants should take 
their passages in ships whose owners have the reputation of 
doing as they wish to be done by. 

Insurance. — Independent of the Government inspection, the 
quality and sea-worthiness of a ship is ascertained aud attested 
under the direction of the committee at Lloyd's, and also by the 



REQUIREMENTS FOR THE VOYAGE. 521 

French Lloyd's, or Bureau Veritas. The following are the de- 
scriptions of vessels to select : — 

First-class ships marked in Lloyd's list and advertised A 1 ; 
second-class ships marked M*. First-class ships marked in the 
Bureau Veritas, and advertised Veritas, 3 /3rd. Second-class 
ships, tolerably good, marked and advertised Veritas, 5 /6th, or 
3/4th, or 2/3rds. 

Liability of Shipowners. — The ( Passengers' Act ' provides 
that, in the event of a vessel putting back, the owners or char- 
terers are bound to support the passengers until the ship is 
ready to receive them. If a ship does not sail to its time, the 
passengers are entitled to an allowance for expenses. 

Requirements for the Voyage : Clothing. — Eequirements for 
the voyage, and the first year after landing, should be attended 
to before starting. Many goods sold in London are also sold in 
Victoria, &c. ; but prices vary according to the supplies sent 
out from home, while emigrants newly landed have enough on 
their hands without looking out for cheap markets where to 
provide the necessaries they require. A frequent change of 
underclothing is indispensable to health and comfort during a 
long sea- voyage, and emigrants, previous to sailing, have the 
best opportunity of making their purchases. For the voyage 
round Cape Horn, summer clothes are wanted, as well as warm 
clothing, as the course of the ship lies through hot and cold 
latitudes. A man should be provided with two warm suits, 
with a cap to match, a couple of suits of light clothing, with 
at least a dozen cotton shirts, and three or four flannel shirts. 
A good stock of shirts, socks, and handkerchiefs, when practi- 
cable, should be laid in, as very little washing can be done 
during the voyage. The supply of underclothing should be 
enough for the whole voyage, if need be, without washing. 
Women should have a warm shawl and cloak, and two dresses, 
all good, serviceable, and not showy ; they should have an ample 
supply of chemises and other underclothing. Both men and 
women should be particular in getting stout, comfortable boots 
and shoes. Waterproof suits and flannel shirts will be found 
useful. 

Bedding and Mess Utensils. — Besides clothing, emigrants 
should provide for their comfort and cleanliness by taking 



522 APPENDIX. 

with them the following articles : — For each married couple, 
1 large bed, 1 pair of blankets, 2 pairs of sheets, 1 large 
coverlet, 2 large bags, 2 plates, 2 large mugs, 2 knives, forks, 
and spoons, 1 hook-pot, 1 water-can, 1 wash-bowl, 12 towels, 

1 tea-pot, 1 sugar-bowl, 2 cups and saucers, 2 bars of marine 
soap, 1 comb, and hairbrush, 2 shoebrushes, 2 pots of black- 
ing, a cabin utensil, 1 strong chest with lock. For each 
child should be provided: — 1 plate, 1 small mug, 1 knife, 
fork, and spoon, with, of course, bedding, &c, in propor- 
tion to size and number. The cost of an outfit for a single 
man or woman is about 61. ; for a married couple about 101. 
The cost of an outfit for children varies with their size. Grene- 
rally speaking, three children under seven, or two between that 
age and fourteen, may be clothed for about 71. 

Baggage directions. — Emigrants should divide their property 
into two portions : that which is constantly wanted during the 
voyage, and that which is not always wanted. The last-named 
portion should be packed in a strong chest, marked with the 
name and destination of the owner. It will be safely stowed 
away in the lower part of the ship, and occasionally — perhaps 
twice a month — brought up, to give an opportunity of putting 
in articles or taking them out. What is wanted for daily use 
should be packed in a box ; one capable of holding clothes 
enough for two weeks' wear. The size allowed for this box is 

2 feet 6 inches long, 1 foot 6 inches broad, and 1 foot 3 inches 
deep. The owner's name should be painted on it in large 
letters. 

Luggage. — The usual allowance of luggage for second and 
third class passengers is 20 cubic feet, or 4 feet long, 2 feet 6 
inches wide, and 2 feet deep for each person. A series of 
pockets on a piece of canvas, to nail inside a cabin or berth, 
will be found convenient. 

Sea-Stores. — Sugar, tea, tobacco, and other small luxuries 
kept in stock on board ship, may be purchased during the 
voyage. Biscuits, preserves, hams, and in the case of families 
with children, arrowroot, sago, tapioca, ground rice, and sugar 
for puddings, will be found most serviceable on the voyage. 

Books. — The compulsory idleness of passengers is perhaps 
among the greatest hardships of a long sea-voyage. Books are 



MONEY — INSUKANCE — TIME OF SAILING. 523 

a great resource, and a few really good works should be laid in 
among other stores. It is scarcely necessary to say that the 
Bible — the Word of Him who holds the waters in His hand — 
should be the companion of every emigrant. In all well-regu- 
lated ships divine service is on Sunday mornings performed by 
the captain. 

Certificates. — Certificates of good conduct are invaluable in 
the Colonies ; the obtaining of them from their employers, or 
the magistrates and clergymen of their districts, is among the 
most important of the preparations which ought to be recom- 
mended to intending emigrants. 

Money. — Emigrants are readily provided with Letters of 
Credit and Bills payable at Victoria, on application at any of 
the London Banks. Eisks are thus avoided ; and the Letter of 
Credit enables the holder to draw his money or deposit it upon 
landing, thus immediately affording him the advantages of a 
banker. Letters of Credit can be obtained with ease. 

Insurance of Baggage. — The insurance of emigrants' bag- 
gage is also a precautionary measure which cannot be too 
strongly recommended. Such insurances can be effected with 
little trouble at a small cost. The rates are from \l. 10s. to 
11. 15s. per 1001. The policies should be deposited with friends 
in England. 

Time of Sailing. — Emigrants, more especially those who 
intend either to work or trade in the gold-fields, ought so to 
time their departure from England as to arrive at the com- 
mencement, or at least, in the middle of the mining season, 
which generally lasts from April to November. Those who 
reach the colony during the winter months, will find travelling 
difficult, work slack, and, in the interior at least, provisions 
scarce and high. 

First-class Passengers. — First-class cabin, or cuddy passen- 
gers, in their preparations for a voyage, have to consider the 
character of the ship in which they take their passage. On the 
Panama route everything is provided, for the mail steamers are 
in all respects floating hotels, where the guests find ample pre- 
parations for their comfort and convenience — board and lodging, 
attendance, furniture, and linen. Sailing-ships provide for their 
first-class passengers board and attendance, and a cabin, which 



524 APPENDIX. 

each passenger has to furnish for himself. On the whole, the 
difference in the accommodation is made up by a difference in 
the rates of passage. 

Ladies' Outfits. — For a Lady : A dark silk dress for voyage, 
muslin, silk, and other dresses ; shawls, mantles, straw hat, bonnet 
with sunshade ; veils, blue or brown ; dressing gowns ; cambric 
muslin chemises ; white and flannel petticoats ; silk, cotton, and 
thread stockings ; pocket and neck-handkerchiefs ; collars and 
cuffs; silk and kid gloves; calico night-dresses and drawers; 
nightcaps ; travelling, work, and dressing-bag ; looking-glass ; 
perfumery ; boots and shoes ; one pair with thick soles for wet 
deck ; towels and travelling rug or wrapper. 

Cabin Furniture. — When passengers have to furnish their 
cabins, they should also procure : sheets, pillow-cases, blankets, 
counterpanes ; cabin sofa, to swing or stand, or an iron bedstead ; 
horse-hair or flock; one feather pillow ; cabin washstand forming 
table; mahogany or teak chest of drawers; folding looking- 
glass ; cabin lamp ; candles ; clothes bag ; foot-bath and water- 
can ; carpet or oil-cloth for cabin ; Windsor and marine soap ; 
curtains for cabin ; floating belt, which forms a cushion. 

Luggage Regulations. — The luggage should be made up in 
packages of a convenient size and shape, none exceeding eighty 
pounds in weight. Trunks three feet long, one foot three inches 
wide, and one foot two inches deep, are recommended for the 
purpose. The owner's name, destination, and number should be 
legibly painted on the top, sides, and ends of each trunk. The 
trunk intended for cabin use should be specially marked. 



VICTOEIA AND ESQUIMALT HARBOUR DUES ACT, 1860. 

Schedule A. 

Fees for Entrance and Clearance of Vessels entering and clear- 
ing the Ports of Victoria and Esquimalt. 

£ s. d. 

All vessels under 15 tons . . . .042 

„ between 15 and 30 tons . .063 

„ „ 30 and 50 „ . .084 



VICTORIA AND ESQUIMALT HARBOUR DUES ACT. 525 













£ 


s. 


d 


All vessels 


between 50 and 


100 


53 * ' 





12 


6 


33 


>> 


100 and 


200 


33 ' ' 





18 


9 


99 


ii 


200 and 


300 


33 


1 


5 





33 


;> 


300 and 


400 


33 


1 


13 


4 


33 


>i 


400 and 


500 


33 


2 


1 


8 


33 


under 


400 tons 






. 1 


13 


4 


33 


between 500 and 


600 


33 


2 


5 


10 


53 


33 


600 and 


700 


33 


. 2 


10 





33 


33 


700 and 


800 


33 


. 2 


14 


2 


3? 


33 


800 and 


900 


35 


. 2 


18 


1 


3? 


33 


900 and 1,000 


33 


. 3 


2 


6 


35 


5? 


1,000 and i 


upwards 


3 


6 


8 



All steamers, bona fide carrying mails, to pay half the amount 
of the above scale of fees, according to their tonnage. 



Schedule B. 

Half-yearly License for Coasters. 



Under 10 tons 


. 


. 


. 1 








Above 10 and under 30 tons . 


. 


. 


. 2 








„ 30 „ 50 „ . 


. 


. 


. 3 








„ 50 „ . 


• 


• 


. 4 








. Schedule 


C. 











10 



1 10 



Wherries and skiffs plying for hire, and licensed to 
carry not exceeding six passengers. Per quarter . 

Eow-boats and yawls plying for hire, and licensed to 
carry more than six passengers, and under ten tons 
burthen. Per quarter . . . . 

Lighters and scows employed in freighting or dis- 
charging vessels, or otherwise, for hire, under ten 
tons burthen. Per quarter . . . .200 

Lighters and scows exceeding ten tons. Per quarter 2 

And Is. additional for every ton exceeding ten tons, and up to 
1 00 tons burthen. 



526 APPENDIX. 

Schedule D. 

Landing Permits. 

£ s. d. 

For invoices under 100£. in value . . . .042 
Above 1001. and under 2501. in value . . .063 
For invoices above 2501. and under 500?. in value .084 
For invoices above 500?. and under 1,000?. in value . 12 6 
For invoices above 1 ,000? 16 8 

Harbour Dues levied at New Westminster. 

For every sailing-ship or vessel above 30 tons register, 
either entering or leaving the said port, per ton 
register 3 

For every steam-vessel either entering or leaving the 

said port, per ton register 2 

For every vessel of and under 30 tons, including 

boats and canoes 7 6 

Pilotage. 

For every vessel clearing for, or entering from parts 
beyond sea, viz. : 

If less than 6 feet draught of water . . .500 
If more than 6 feet, and less than 7 feet draught 

of water . 5 10 

And for every additional foot of water up to 12 

feet 10 

And for every additional foot of water above 12 

feet . . 15 

Inland Navigation. 

Every steamer trading on the Fraser River, and not 
trading to any part beyond sea, per ton register 
per annum 2 



LAND PROCLAMATIONS. 527 

VANCOUVER ISLAND! 

LAND PROCLAMATIONS BY HIS EXCELLENCY JAMES DOUGLAS, 
C.B., ETC. ETC. 

I. 

Whereas I have been empowered by Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment to fix the upset price of country land within the colony of 
Vancouver Island and its dependencies at 4s. 2d. per acre. 

And whereas I have been authorised as aforesaid to take such 
steps as may tend to promote the settlement of country land in 
the said colony. 

And whereas it is expedient to make public the method by 
which bona fide settlers may acquire the same land. 

Be it therefore known unto all men : 

All country land to be sold at 4s. 2d. per acre. — That the 
upset price of all country land in Vancouver Island shall be 
from henceforth 4s. 2d. per acre. 

British subjects may enter upon and occupy land, not being 
otherwise reserved, in certain quantities and in certain dis- 
tricts. — That from and after the date hereof, male British 
subjects, and aliens who shall take the oath of allegiance before 
the Chief Justice of Vancouver Island, above the age of eighteen 
years, may pre-empt unsold Crown lands in the districts of 
Victoria, Esquimalt, Metchosin, the Highlands, Sooke, North 
and South Saanich, Salt Spring Island, Sallas Island, and the 
Chemanis (not being an Indian reserve or settlement), of the 
area and under the conditions following : — 

A single man, 150 acres.* 

A married man, whose wife is resident in the colony, 200 
acres. 

For each of his children under the age of eighteen years, 
resident in the said colony, an additional 10 acres. 

Pre-emptor, before recording his claim, to take the oath of 

* The terms of the most recent Land proclamation for British Columbia 
is substantially the same as the above, except that the quantity of land 
allowed a single man by pre-emption is 160 acres. 



528 APPENDIX. 

allegiance if a British subject ivlio has become subject to some 
other nation. — All British subjects, who shall he desirous of 
pre-empting, and who may, at the time of record, have taken 
the oath of allegiance to, or become the subject or citizen of any 
foreign Sovereign, state, or nation, shall, as a condition pre- 
cedent to recording their claims, take the oath of allegiance in 
manner aforesaid. 

Pre-emptor to record his claim immediately on occupation. 
Fee. — Immediately after occupation, the pre-emptor shall record 
his claim at the office of the Surveyor-General at Victoria ; 
paying for such record the sum of eight shillings and fourpence. 

Regulating the form of claims. — The land selected, if unsur- 
veyed, shall be of a rectangular form, and the shortest side of 
said rectangle shall be two-fifths the length of the longest side ; 
and the boundaries of such land shall also run as nearly as 
possible by the cardinal points of the compass. 

Where the land sought to be acquired is unsurve} T ed, and in 
whole or part bounded by rocks, mountains, lakes, swamps, 
the margin of a river, or the sea-coast, or other natural bounda- 
ries, then such natural boundaries may be adopted as the boun- 
daries of the land selected. 

The claimant shall, if the land is unsurveyed, give the best 
possible description thereof in writing to the Surveyor-Greneral 
at the time of record, with a map thereof, and shall identify the 
land, by placing a post at each corner, and by stating in his 
description any other landmarks which may be of a noticeable 
character. 

Mode of recording claims in surveyed lands. — If the land, 
however, be surveyed, the claimant shall give the description 
aforesaid by identification with the landmarks laid down by the 
Government Survey. 

Payment. — The claimant shall, if the land be unsurve}^ed, 
pay into the Land Office at Victoria the sum .of four shillings 
and twopence per acre for the same as soon as the land is 
included within the Government Survey; if the land be sur- 
veyed, he shall pay into the said Land Office the sum of four 
shillings and twopence per acre by three instalments, viz. : One 
shilling and one penny per acre within one year from the day of 
record ; one shilling and one penny per acre within two years 



LAND PROCLAMATIONS. 529 

from the said day of record, and two shillings within three years 
from the said day; and any default in any of the payments 
aforesaid shall cause a forfeiture of the pre-emption claim, and 
of the instalments (if any) paid up. 

Certificate of improvement to be granted after two years' 
occupation and 10s. per acre improvement — When the pre- 
emptor, his heirs or devisees, shall prove to the Surveyor- 
Greneral, by the satisfactory evidence of third parties, that he 
has, or they have, continued in permanent occupation of the 
claim for two years from the date of record, and has or have 
made permanent improvements thereon to the value of ten 
shillings per acre, the said Surveyor-Greneral shall issue to him 
or them a certificate of improvement, in the form marked A in 
the schedule hereto. 

Holder of certificate of improvement may sell, lease, or 
mortgage, — Upon the grant of the certificate of improvement 
aforesaid, the person to whom the same is issued may, subject to 
any unpaid instalments, sell, mortgage, or lease the land in 
respect of which such certificate has been issued ; but until the 
entirety of the purchase-money of the said land has been paid, 
no sale, mortgage, or lease of the said land shall be valid unless 
a certificate of improvement as aforesaid has been issued in 
respect thereof. 

Conveyance of surveyed lands. — Upon payment of the entirety 
of the purchase-money, a conveyance of the land shall be executed 
in favour of the pre-emptor, reserving to the Crown the right to 
take back so much thereof as may be required for roads or other 
public purposes, and reserving also the precious minerals, with 
a right to enter and work the same in favour of the Crown, its 
assigns and licencees. 

Conveyance of pre-empted claim in unsurveyed lands. — If 
the land is not then included in the Government Survey, the 
conveyance shall, with the reservations aforesaid, be executed as 
soon as possible after the same is so included; and the pre- 
emptor shall, upon survey, be entitled to take any quantity of 
unpre-empted land, at the price of four shillings and twopence 
per acre, which may be laid off into the sections in which his 
pre-empted land is situate; or, if unwilling so to do, he shall 

M M 



530 APPENDIX. 

forfeit so much of the pre-empted land as lies in those sections 
which he is unwilling to purchase. 

Priorities. — Priority of title shall be obtained by the person 
who, being in actual occupation, shall first record his claim in 
manner aforesaid. 

Forfeiture by cessation of occupation. — Whenever any per- 
son shall cease to occupy land pre-empted as aforesaid for the 
space of two months, the Surveyor-General may, in a summary 
way, on being satisfied of such permanent cessation, cancel the 
claim of the person so ceasing to occupy the same, and record 
de novo the claim of any other person satisfying the requisitions 
aforesaid; and in the event of any person feeling aggrieved 
thereat, his remedy shall be personally against the person so 
recording. 

Compensation for waste or injury. — In the event of the 
Crown, its assigns or licencees, availing itself or themselves of 
the reservation to enter and work the precious minerals as afore- 
said, a reasonable compensation for the waste and damage done 
shall be paid by the person entering and working to the person 
whose land shall be wasted or damaged as aforesaid ; and in case 
of any dipute, a jury of six men, to be summoned by the Sur- 
veyor-General, shall settle the same. 

Nothing in the conditions hereinbefore contained, or in any 
title to be derived hereunder, shall be construed as giving a 
right to any claimant to exclude licencees of the Crown from 
searching for any of the precious minerals in any unenclosed 
land on the conditions aforesaid. 

Saving of water privileges for mining purposes. — Water 
privileges, and the right of carrying water for mining purposes, 
may, notwithstanding any claim recorded, certificate of improve- 
ment, or conveyance aforesaid, be claimed and taken upon, 
under, or over the land so pre-empted by miners requiring the 
same, and obtaining a grant or license from the Surveyor- 
General in that behalf, and paying a compensation for waste or 
damage to the person whose land may be wasted or damaged 
by such water privilege or carrying of water, to be ascertained, 
in case of dispute, by a jury of six men in manner aforesaid. 

Arbitration. — In case any dispute shall arise between persons 
with regard to any land acquired as aforesaid, any one of the 



LAND PROCLAMATIONS. 531 

parties in difference may (before ejectment or action of trespass 
brought) refer the question in difference to the Surveyor- 
General, who is hereby authorised to proceed in a summary way 
to restore the possession of any land in dispute to the person 
whom he may deem entitled to the same; and to abate all 
intrusions and award and levy such costs and damages as he may 
think fit, and for all or any of the purposes aforesaid to call in 
to his assistance the civil authorities or any process of law. 
Given under my hand, &c. 

James Douglas. 

II. 

Whereas I have been empowered by Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment to take such steps as may tend to promote the settlement 
of country land in the said colony. 

And whereas it is expedient to extend the time during which 
a person may cease to occupy land pre-empted under the 
provisions of a Proclamation given under my hand and the 
public seal of this colony, and dated the 19th day of February 
1861. 

Now therefore, be it known unto all men, that any person 
having pre-empted land under the provisions of the said Pro- 
clamation may, if he shall have been continuously in occupa- 
tion of the same for the space of (8) eight calendar months next 
previously to his leaving, leave the same for any period not 
exceeding (6) six calendar months, provided that within (21) 
twenty-one days from the date of his leaving the same he shall 
fill in a memorandum in the book kept for that purpose in the 
Land Office at Victoria, with the particulars and in the manner 
therein contained. 

Given under my hand and the public seal, &c. 

James Douglas. 



M M 2 



532 APPENDIX. 



KULES AND REGULATIONS FOE THE WORKING OF GOLD 
MINES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

ISSUED IN COHTOKMITY WITH THE GOLD FIELDS' ACT, 1859. 

Whereas, it is provided by the Gold Fields' Act, 1859, that 
the Governor for the time being of British Columbia may, by 
writing under his hand and the Public Seal of the Colony, make 
Rules and Regulations, in the nature of By-laws, for all matters 
relating to Mining. Now therefore, I, James Douglas, Governor, 
&c, do hereby make the following Rules and Regulations, ac- 
cordingly : — 

I. In the construction of the following Rules and Regula- 
tions, unless there be some contrariety, or repugnancy thereto 
in the context, the words ' Governor,' e Gold Commissioner,' 
6 mine,' ( to mine,' shall have the same meanings as in the Gold 
Fields' Act, 1859. The expression 'Bar diggings' shall mean 
every mine over which a river extends when in its most flooded 
state. ( Dry diggings ' shall mean any mine over which a river 
never extends. ' Ravines ' shall include water-courses, whether 
usually containing water or usually dry. ' Ditch ' shall include 
a flume or race, or other artificial means for conducting water 
by its own weight into or upon a mine. ' Ditch head ' shall 
mean the point in a natural water-course or lake, where water 
is first taken into a ditch. And words in the singular number 
shall include the plural, and the masculine gender shall include 
the feminine. 

II. All claims are to be, as nearly as may be, in rectangular 
forms, and marked by four pegs at the least, each peg to be four 
inches square at the least, and one foot above the surface, and 
firmly fixed in the ground. No boundary peg shall be con- 
cealed, or moved, or injured, without the previous permission of 
the Gold Commissioner. 

III. The size of a claim, when not otherwise established by a 
by-law, shall be, for bar diggings, a strip of land twenty-five feet 
wide at the mark to which the river rises when flooded, and 
thence extending down into the river indefinitely. For dry 
diggings, a space twenty-five feet by thirty feet. For ravine 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 533 

diggings, a space of twenty-five feet along the bank of the ravine 
and extend up to the top of each bank. In quartz claims the 
size, when not otherwise established by by-law, shall be one 
hundred feet in length, measured along the vein or seam, with 
power to the miner to follow the vein or seam, and its spurs, 
dips and ang]es, anywhere on or below the surface included 
between the two extremities of such length of one hundred feet, 
but not to advance upon or beneath the surface of the earth 
more than one hundred feet in a lateral direction from the main 
vein or seam, along which the claim is to be measured. All 
measurements of area are to be made on the surface of the 
earth, neglecting inequalities. Every claim is to have a distin- 
guishing number marked on its boundary pegs. 

IV. If any free miners, or party of free miners, shall discover 
a new mine, and such discovery shall be established to the satis- 
faction of the Gold Commissioner, the first discoverer, or party 
of discoverers, if not more than two in number, shall be entitled 
to a claim double the established size of claims in the nearest 
mine of the same description (i.e., dry, bar, or quartz diggings). 
If such party consist of three men, they shall collectively be 
entitled to five claims of the established size, on such nearest 
mine ; and if of four or more men, such party shall be entitled 
to a claim and a half per man. A new stratum of auriferous 
earth or rock, situate in a locality where the claims are aban- 
doned, shall for this purpose be deemed a new mine, although 
the same locality shall previously have been worked at a 
different level. And dry diggings discovered in the neigh- 
bourhood of bar diggings shall be deemed a new mine, and vice 
versa. 

V. The registration of claims shall be in such manner and 
form as the Gold Commissioner shall in any locality direct, and 
shall include, besides the matters mentioned in the Gold Fields' 
Act of 1859, all such other matters as the Gold Commissioner 
shall think fit to include. 

VI. No transfer of any claim, or of any interest therein, shall 
be enforceable, unless the same, or some memorandum thereof, 
shall be in writing, signed by the party sought to be charged, or 
by his lawfully authorized agent, and registered with the Gold 
Commissioner. 



534 APPENDIX. 

VII. Any person desiring any exclusive ditch or water pri- 
vilege, shall make application to the Grold Commissioner having 
jurisdiction for the place where the same shall be situated, 
stating for the guidance of the Commissioner in estimating the 
character of the application, the name of every applicant, the 
proposed ditch head, and quantity of water, the proposed locality 
of distribution, and if such water shall be for sale, the price at 
which it is proposed to sell the same, the general nature of the 
work to be done, and the time within which such work shall be 
complete ; and the Grold Commissioner shall enter a note of all 
such matters as of record. 

VIII. Unless otherwise specially arranged, the rent to be paid 
for any water privilege shall be, in each month, one average 
day's receipts from the sale thereof, to be estimated by the 
Grold Commissioner, with the assistance, if he shall so think fit, 
of a jury. 

IX. If any person shall refuse or neglect to take, within the 
time mentioned in his application, or within such further time 
(if any) as the Grold Commissioner may, in his discretion, think 
fit to grant for the completion of the ditch, the whole of the 
water applied for, he shall, at the end of the time mentioned in 
his application, be deemed entitled only to the quantity actually 
taken by him, and the Gold Commissioner shall make such 
entry in the register as shall be proper to mark such alteration 
in the quantity, and may grant the surplus to any other person, 
according to the rules herein laid down for the granting of water 
privileges. 

X. Every owner of a ditch or water privilege shall be bound 
to take all reasonable means for utilizing the water granted to 
and taken by him. And if any such owner shall wilfully take 
and waste any unreasonable quantity of water, he shall be 
charged with the full rent as if he had sold the same at a 
full price. And it shall be lawful for the Grold Commissioner, 
if such offence be persisted in, to declare all rights to the water 
forfeited. 

XI. It shall be lawful for the owner of any ditch, or water 
privilege, to sell and distribute the water conveyed by him to 
such persons, and on such terms as they may deem advisable, 
within the limits mentioned in their application. Provided 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 535 

always, that the owner of any ditch or water privilege shall be 
bound to supply water to all applicants, being free miners, in 
a fair proportion, and shall not demand more from one person 
than from another, except when the difficulty of supply is 
enhanced. Provided further, that no person, not being a free 
miner, shall be entitled to demand to be supplied with water 
at all. 

XII. A claim on any mine shall, until otherwise ordered by 
some valid by-law, be deemed to be abandoned, and open to 
the occupation of any free miner, when the same shall have 
remained unworked by some registered holder thereof for the 
space of seventy-two hours, unless in case of sickness, or unless 
before the expiry of such seventy-two hours a further extension 
of time be granted by the Gold Commissioner, who may grant 
further time for enabling parties to go prospecting, or for such 
other reasonable cause as he may think proper. Sundays, and 
such holidays as the Gold Commissioner may think fit to pro- 
claim, are to be omitted in reckoning the time of non-working. 

XIII. Whenever it shall be intended, in forming or uphold- 
ing any ditch, to enter upon or to occupy any part of a registered 
claim, or to dig or loosen any earth or rock within [4] feet of 
any ditch not belonging solely to the registered owner of such 
claim, three days' notice in writing, of such intention, shall be 
given, before entering or approaching within 4 feet of such 
other property. 

XIV. If the owner of the property about to be so entered 
upon or approached, shall consider three days' notice insufficient 
for taking proper measures of precaution, or if any dispute 
shall arise between the parties as to the proper precautionary 
measures to be taken, or in any other respect, the whole matter 
shall be immediately referred to the Gold Commissioner acting 
in the district, who shall order such interval of time to be 
observed before entry, or make such other order as he may deem 
proper. 

XV. In quartz claims and reefs each successive claimant shall 
leave three feet unworked to form a boundary wall between his 
claim and the last previous claimant, and shall stake off his 
claim accordingly, not commencing at the boundary peg of the 
last previous claim, but three feet further on ; and if any per- 



536 APPENDIX. 

son shall stake out his claim, disregarding this rule, the Gold 
Commissioner shall have power to come and remove the first 
boundary peg of such wrong-doer 3 feet further on, notwith- 
standing that other claims may then be properly staked out 
beyond him; so that such wrong-doer shall then have but 
97 feet. And if such wrong-doer shall have commenced 
work immediately at the boundary peg of the last previous 
claim, the Gold Commissioner may remove his boundary 6 
feet further on than the open work of such wrong-doer : and 
all such open work, and also the next 3 feet of such space 
of 6 feet shall belong to and form part of the last previous 
claim, and the residue of such space of 6 feet shall be left as 
a boundary wall. 

XVI. Every such boundary wall shall be deemed the joint 
property of the owners of the two claims between which it 
stands, and may not be worked or injured, save by the consent 
of both such owners. 

XVII. In staking out plots of land for free miners and 
traders, for gardening and residential purposes, under the 
powers of the said Grold Fields' Act, 1859, contained, the Gold 
Commissioner is to keep in view the general interests of all the 
miners in that locality, the general principle being that every 
garden benefits indirectly the whole locality, and also the earlier 
application is to be preferred ; but where the eligible spots of 
land are few, or of scanty dimensions, and especially where they 
are themselves auriferous, it may be injudicious that the whole 
or the greater part should fall into the hands of one or two 
persons ; and therefore, in such cases, the Grold Commissioner 
may, in the exercise of his discretion, allot small plots only to 
each applicant. 

XVIII. Any person desiring to acquire any water privilege 
shall be bound to respect the rights of parties using the same 
water, at a point below the place where the person desiring such 
new privilege intends to use it. 

XIX. Any person desiring to bridge across any stream or 
claim or other place, for any purpose, or to mine under or 
through any ditch or flume, or to carry water through or over 
any land already occupied by any other person, may be enabled 
to do so in proper cases, with the sanction of the Gold Com- 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 537 

missioner. In all such cases the right of the party first in 
possession, whether of the mine or of the water privilege, is to 
prevail, so as to entitle him to full compensation and indemnity. 
But wherever due compensation by indemnity can be given, and 
is required, the Grold Commissioner may sanction the execution 
of such new work on such terms as he shall think reasonable. 

AS TO LEASES IN LARGER PROPORTIONS THAN CLAIMS. 

XX. Applications for leases are to be sent in triplicate to 
the Grold Commissioner having jurisdiction for the locality 
where the land desired to be taken is situated. Every such 
application shall contain the names and additions of the appli- 
cant at full length, and the names and addresses of two persons 
residing in the colony of British Columbia, or Vancouver 
Island, to whom the applicant is personally known. Also a 
description accompanied by a map of the land proposed to be 
taken. 

XXI. Leases will not be granted in general for a longer term 
than ten years, or for a larger space than ten acres of alluvial 
soil (dry diggings), or half a mile in length of unworked quartz 
reef, or a mile and a half in length of quartz, that shall have 
been attempted and abandoned by individual claim workers, 
with liberty to follow the spurs, dips, and angles, on and within 
the surface for two hundred feet on each side of the main lead 
or seam, or, in bar diggings, half a mile in length (if unworked), 
along the high-water mark, or a mile and a half in length along 
high-water mark, where the same shall have been attempted and 
abandoned by individual claim workers. 

XXII. Leases as above will not in general be granted of 
any land, alluvium or quartz, which shall be considered to be 
immediately available for being worked by free miners, as 
holders of individual claims. Nor will such a lease in any case 
be granted, where individual free miners are in previous actual 
occupation of any part of the premises unless by their consent. 

XXIII. Every such lease shall contain all reasonable provi- 
sions for securing to the public rights of way and water, save 
in so far as shall be necessary for the miner-like working of the 
premises thereby demised, and also for preventing damage to 



538 APPENDIX. 

the persons or property of other parties than the lessee. And 
the premises thereby demised shall be granted for mining pur- 
poses only, and it shall not be competent for the lessee to assign 
or sub-let the same, or any part or parts thereof, without the 
previous license in writing of the Gold Commissioner. And 
every such lease shall contain a covenant by the lessee to mine 
the said premises in a miner-like way, and also, if it shall be 
thought fit to perform the works therein defined within a time 
therein limited. And also a clause by virtue whereof the said 
lease and the demise therein contained may be avoided in case 
the lessee shall refuse or neglect to observe and perform all or 
any of the covenants therein contained. 

XXIV. Every applicant for a lease shall, at the time of sending 
in his application, mark out the ground comprised in the appli- 
cation, by square posts firmly fixed in the boundaries of the 
land, and four feet above the surface, with a notice thereon that 
such land has been applied for, stating when and by whom, and 
shall also fix upon a similar post at each of the nearest places 
on which miners are at work, a copy of such notice. 

XXV. Objections to the granting of any such lease shall be 
made in writing, addressed to His Excellency the Governor, 
under cover to the Gold Commissioner, who shall forward all 
such objections, together with his report thereon. 

XXVI. Every application for a lease shall be accompanied by 
a deposit of twenty-five pounds sterling, which shall be refunded 
in case the application shall be refused by the Government ; and 
if the application shall be entertained, then such sum of twenty- 
five pounds shall be retained for the use of Her Majesty, her 
heirs and successors, whether the application be afterwards aban- 
doned or not. 

Issued under the Public Seal of the Colony of British Co- 
lumbia, at Victoria, Vancouver Island, this seventh day of 
September, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight 
Hundred and Fifty-nine, and in the Twenty-third year of 
Her Majesty's Eeign, by me, 

JAMES DOUGLAS, [l. s.] 
By command of His Excellency, 
William A. G. Young, 

Acting Colonial Secretary. 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 539 



RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE WORKING OF GOLD 

MINES. 

ISSUED IN CONFORMITY WITH THE GOLD FIELDS' ACT, 1859. 

Whereas it is provided by the Gold Fields' Act, 1859, that 
the Governor for the time being of British Columbia may, by 
writing under his hand and the Public Seal of the Colony, make 
Rules and Regulations, in the nature of By-laws, for all matters 
relating to mining ; 

And whereas, in conformity with the said Act, certain Rules 
and Regulations have already been issued, bearing date Septem- 
ber 7, 1859 ; 

And whereas, since the issuing of such Rules, extensive mines 
have been discovered on the high level benches, lying on either 
side of Fraser River, Thompson River, and other rivers, which 
benches are generally terminated by abrupt and steep descents 
or cliffs, the general direction of which is parallel with the 
general direction of the rivers ; 

And whereas, such mines cannot be conveniently worked in 
small rectangular subdivisions, but the convenient working 
thereof requires a large size of claim, and may, in some cases, 
require that each claim should reach from the cliff in front of 
each bench to the cliff in the rear, or when there is no cliff in 
the rear, then to the general slope of the mountains in the rear ; 

And whereas, it is also expedient to make further provision 
with respect to the regulation of claims, and to adopt one general 
rule for determining the measure of the quantity of water in any 
ditch or channel ; 

Now, therefore, I, James Douglas, Governor, &c, do hereby 
make the following Rules and Regulations accordingly : 

I. The mines in the said level benches shall be known as 
( bench diggings,' and shall, for the purpose of ascertaining the 
size of claims therein, be excepted out of the class of ( dry dig- 
gings,' as defined in the Rules and Regulations of the 7th of 
September last. 

II. The ordinary claims on any bench diggings shall be regis- 
tered by the Gold Commissioner according to such one of the 



540 APPENDIX. 

two following methods of measurement as he shall deem most 
advantageous on each mine, viz. : One hundred feet square, or 
else a strip of land twenty-five feet wide at the edge of the cliff 
next the river, and bounded by two straight lines, carried as 
nearly as possible in each case perpendicular to the general 
direction of such cliff, across the level bench, up to and not 
beyond the foot of the descent in the rear, and in such last-men- 
tioned case, the space included between such two boundary-lines 
when produced over the face of the cliff in front, as far as the 
foot of such cliff, and no further ; and all mines in the space so 
included shall also form a part of such claim. 

III. The Grold Commissioner shall have authority, in cases 
where the benches are narrow, to mark the claims in such 
manner as he shall think fit, so as to include an adequate claim. 
And shall also have power to decide on the cliffs which, in his 
opinion, form the natural boundaries of benches. 

IV. The Grold Commissioner may, in any mine of any deno- 
mination where the pay dirt is thin or claims in small demand, 
or where, from any circumstances, he shall deem it reasonable, 
allow any free miner to register two claims in his own name, 
and allow such period as he may think proper for non-working 
either one of such claims. But no person shall be entitled to 
hold at one time more than two claims of the legal size. A 
discoverer's claim shall for this purpose be reckoned as one 
ordinary claim. 

V. All claims shall be subject to the public rights of way and 
water, in such manner, direction, and extent as the Grold Com- 
missioner shall from time to time direct. No mine shall be 
worked within 10 feet of any road, unless by the previous sanc- 
tion of the Grold Commissioner. 

VI. In order to ascertain the quantity of water in any ditch 
or sluice, the following rules shall be observed, viz. : 

The water taken into a ditch shall be measured at the ditch 
head. No water shall be taken into a ditch except in a trough, 
whose top and floor shall be horizontal planes, and sides parallel 
vertical planes; such trough to be continued for six times its 
breadth, in a horizontal direction, from the point at which the 
water enters the trough. The top of the trough to be not more 
than 7 inches, and the bottom of the trough not more than 



EULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 541 

17 inches below the surface of the water in the reservoir, all 
measurements being taken inside the trough, and in the low 
water or dry season. The area of a vertical transverse section 
of the trough shall be considered as the measure of the quantity 
of water taken by the ditch. 

The same mode of measurement shall be applied to ascertain 
the quantity of water running in a trough, or out of any ditch. 
Issued under the Public Seal of the Colony of British Colum- 
bia, at Victoria, Vancouver Island, this sixth day of January, 
in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and 
Sixty, and in the Twenty-third year of Her Majesty's reign, 
by me, JAMES DOUGLAS, [l. s.] 

By His Excellency's command, 
William A. Gr. Young. 



EULES AND EEGULATIONS. 

ISSUED IN CONFOEMITT WITH THE GOLD FIELDS' ACT, 1859. 

Whereas, under the Grold Fields' Act, 1859, the Governor 
for the time being of British Columbia is empowered by writing 
under his hand and the Public Seal of the Colony, to make Eules 
and Eegulations, in the nature of By-laws, for all matters relat- 
ing to mining ; 

And whereas, in conformity with that Act, certain Eules and 
Eegulations have been issued, bearing date the 7th Sept. 1859, 
the 6th Jan. 1860, and the 29th Sept. 1862, respectively; 

And whereas it is expedient to make further provisions for 
the working of gold mines; 

Sec. L— Repeals Rule 3, of 7th Sept. 1859.— The Eule No. 3 
of those dated 7th Sept. 1859, declaring the size of mining 
claims, is hereby repealed, so far as it is inconsistent herewith. 

Sec. II. — Size of Claims — Bar Diggings. — From and after 
the date hereof, the size of a claim shall be, for bar diggings, a 
strip of land 100 feet wide at the mark to which the river rises 
when flooded along such high-water mark, and thence extending 
down direct to the river, to the lowest water level. 

Dry Diggings. — For dry diggings, 1 00 feet square. 



542 APPENDIX. 

General Diggings. — For diggings not herein otherwise spe- 
cially described, 100 feet square. 

Quartz Claims. — In quartz claims the size shall be 150 feet 
in length, measured along the lode or vein, with power for the 
miner to follow the lode or vein and its spurs, dips and angles, 
anywhere on or below the surface, included between the two 
extremities of such length of 150 feet, but not to advance upon 
or beneath the surface or the earth, more than 100 feet in a 
lateral direction, from the main lode or vein, along which the 
claim is to be measured. All measurements are to be made on 
the surface of the earth, neglecting inequalities. 

Number — Staking. — Every claim is to have a distinguishing 
number marked on its boundary pegs. Every individual claim, 
whether part of a company claim or not, shall be staked out 
with 4 corner pegs of at least 4 inches diameter, the same as 
denned in Eule 2 of the Eules and Regulations of 7th Sept. 1859. 

Tunnel Claims. — In tunnelling or sinking, each miner shall 
be allowed a frontage of 100 feet, irrespective of depth. The 
Gold Commissioner shall have the power to regulate what 
number of the miners, holding such claims, shall be employed 
prospecting, until gold in paying quantities shall have been 
discovered, after which the full number of authorized miners 
must be employed on the claim. The side boundaries of each 
claim shall be distinctly marked off by 2 parallel lines or rows 
of pegs, fixed in the ground at intervals of 5 feet or there- 
abouts ; the said boundaries or parallel lines shall be carried in a 
direction as straight and square as possible to the summit level. 
No party shall sink or drive ahead between the said parallel 
lines, saving with the consent of the party first in possession, 
until gold shall have been found as under mentioned. 

Extent of Claim. — The extent of claim to each miner shall 
be 100 feet square, and he shall be allowed to mark off the 
claim ahead of the spot, where gold in paying quantities shall 
have been obtained, beyond the limits of the claim so marked 
out. 

Rights of Prospecting. — Beyond these limits any other party 
may prospect by shaft and tunnel from the bottom thereof, and 
until a lead is struck in paying quantities, shall have the ex- 
clusive right of prospecting within two such parallel lines as 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 543 

aforesaid, and shall then mark out his claim as above men- 
tioned. 

Tunnel under Hills, — In tunnelling under hills, on the 
frontage of which angles occur, or which may be of an oblong 
or elliptical form — no party shall be allowed to tunnel from any 
of the said angles, nor from either end of such hills, so as to 
interfere with parties tunnelling from the main frontage of such 
hills. In case of two or more parties tunnelling from opposite 
sides of the same hill, and their side boundary lines meet or 
intersect, or their claims meet, the party that first marks off 
their claim shall be entitled to priority of claim thereon. In 
case of tunnelling under hills, or fronts of hills, such as occur 
at the junction of creeks in which there may be two leads, all 
parties shall, if required, take their claims on the lead nearest 
the side of the hill at which their tunnel commences. 

Forfeiture of Claim involves Tunnel, &c. — The right to the 
tunnel and the ten feet of ground on either side of it, in addi- 
tion to the above claim, shall be considered as appurtenant to 
the claim to which it is annexed, and be abandoned or forfeited 
by the abandonment or forfeiture of the claim itself to which it 
appertains. 

Deposit of Leavings. — The (xold Commissioner may, where 
deemed desirable, mark out a space in the vicinity for deposit of 
leavings and deads from any tunnel. 

Sec. III. — Definition of Miners' Rights in a Claim. — 
Whereas it is expedient better to define the rights of registered 
free miners in their claims, it is hereby declared, enacted, and 
proclaimed — 

That Clause 7 of the Grold Fields' Act, 1859, is hereby repealed. 

Every free miner shall, save as against Her Majesty,' have, 
during the continuance of his certificate, the exclusive right to 
take the gold and auriferous soil upon or within the claim for 
the time being duly held registered and bona fide not colourably 
worked by him, and the exclusive right of entry on the claim 
for the purpose of working or carrying away such gold, or 
auriferous soil, or any part thereof, and also as far as may be 
necessary for the convenient and miner-like working and security 
of his flumes and property of every description, and for a resi- 
dence—but he shall have no surface rights therein for any other 



544 APPENDIX. 

purpose, save as next hereinafter mentioned, unless specially- 
granted. 

Sec. IV.— One Record covers necessary Water and Claim. — In 
addition to the above rights, every registered free miner shall be 
entitled to the use of so much of the water flowing naturally 
through or past his claim as shall in the opinion of the Gold 
Commissioner be necessary for the due working thereof. 

Sec. V. — Inclusive Water Privileges ; Preliminary Notice. — 
Where application is intended to be made for the exclusive 
grant of any surplus water to be taken from any creek or other 
locality, every such applicant shall, in addition to the existing 
requirements, affix a written notice of all the particulars of his 
application upon some conspicuous part of the premises to be 
affected by the proposed grant, for not less than five days before 
recording the same. 

Povjer to Gold Commissioner to Modify the Grant. — The 
Gold Commissioner, upon protest being entered or for reason- 
able cause, shall have power to refuse or modify such application 
or grant, either partially or entirely, as to him shall seem just 
and *easonable. 

Saving of future Miners' Rights to Water. — Every exclusive 
grant of a ditch or water privilege in occupied or unoccupied 
creeks shall be subject to the rights of such registered free miners 
as shall then be working or shall thereafter work in the locality 
from which it is proposed to take such water. 

Sec. VI. — Gold Penalties recoverable by Distress. — Whereas 
it is expedient to confer additional power for enforcing penalties 
recoverable for infraction of the Gold Laws under section 40 of 
the Gold Fields' Act ; 

It is hereby declared, enacted, and proclaimed, that such pe- 
nalties may, if deemed proper, be ordered to be recovered by sale 
and distress, to be levied forthwith or at any convenient interval 
after conviction and nonpayment within so many hours, or such 
longer time as shall be allowed by distress and sale of any claim 
or ditch or any personal property whatsoever of the person on 
whom such penalty may have been imposed. 

Sec. VII. — Certified Copy of any Gold Record to be Evidence. 
— Every copy of or extract from any record or register under or 
by virtue of this Act or the Gold Fields' Act, 1859, or any other 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 545 

Act which shall be made in relation to gold mines or gold fields, 
or any of the Eules and Eegulations made in pursuance thereof, 
respectively required to be kept by any Gold Commissioner, and 
certified to be a true copy or extract under the hand of the Gold 
Commissioner, or other person entrusted to take and keep such 
record or register, shall, in the absence of the original register, 
be receivable in any judicial proceeding as evidence of the 
matters and things therein appearing. 

Sec. VIII. — Fees on recording Claims. — So much of Section 6 
of the Grold Fields' Act, 1859, as imposes a fee of 4s. on the regis- 
tration or re-registration of claims shall be and is hereby repealed. 

In lieu thereof it is hereby declared, enacted, and proclaimed 
there shall be paid to the Gold Commissioner for the use of Her 
Majesty, her heirs, and successors, the following fees : That is to 
say, 

Upon every Eegistration or Re-registration on *| 

t r> i * r I US. oOl. 

record ot any claim .... 
And no person, not being a free miner, shall be entitled to 
record a claim or any interest therein. 

Gold Commissioner may enlarge Ditches. — The Gold Com- 
missioner shall have power, whenever he may deem it advisable, 
to order the enlargement or alteration of any ditch or ditches, 
and to fix what (if any) compensation shall be paid to the parties 
to be benefited by such alteration or enlargement. 

Settlement of Districts. — As to Boundaries, <&c. — In case of 
dispute as to boundary, or measurements, the Gold Commissioner 
shall have power to employ a surveyor to fix and mark the 
same, and cause the reasonable expense thereof to be paid by or 
between such of the parties interested in the question at issue 
as he shall deem fair and just. 

Served under the Public Seal of the said Colony, at Victoria, 
Vancouver Island, this twenty -fourth day of February, 
a.d. 1863, and in the Twenty-sixth year of Her Majesty's 
reign, by me, 

JAMES DOUGLAS. 
By His Excellency's command, 

William A. G. Young, 

Colonial Secretary. 

N N 



546 APPENDIX. 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

NO. 4. AN OKDINANCE TO EXTEND AND IMPKOVE THE LAWS KELATING 
TO GOLD MINING. 

[February 26, 1864] 

Preamble. — Whereas, from the increased extent and import- 
ance of Grold Mining in British Columbia, it is requisite to make 
further provision as to the holding, sale, transmission, and dis- 
posal of claims and interests in claims, and to facilitate the 
creation of partnerships, and also to confer privileges under 
certain restrictions on free miners associating together for the 
more economical and systematic drainage of mining ground, and 
to raise revenue from the duties upon the registration of various 
mining matters ; 

Be it enacted by the Governor of British Columbia, with the 
advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as 
follows : 

1. From and after the passing of this Act, so much of Clause 
thirty-one (31) of the Grold Fields' Act, 1859, as relates to the 
times of meeting of the Mining Board, shall be amended to 
read as follows : 

Mining Board Meetings. — The Mining Board shall meet at 
such times as a majority of the said Board shall decide, and 
one-half of the members of the said Board shall constitute a 
quorum. Provided, nevertheless, that it shall be lawful for the 
Grold Commissioner, when and so often as in his opinion occa- 
sion shall require, to call together such Mining Board. 

2. Repeals Section 33 of the Gold Fields' Act, 1859. — Section 
33 of the said Grold Fields' Act, 1859, shall be repealed, and the 
following provisions substituted in lieu thereof : 

Election of Mining Board. — The general election of mem- 
bers of the Mining Board shall be held on such day in each 
year, as the Grold Commissioner in each district shall appoint. 

Vacancies in the Board. — And the Grold Commissioner shall 
fill by appointment all vacancies which may arise in the said 
Board, and when the same may occur, and such appointees shall 
hold office until the next general election. 



EULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 547 

3. Mining Board may act without presence of Gold Commis- 
sioner. — Section thirty-five (35) of the said Gold Fields' Act 
shall be amended by striking out the words Gold Commissioner 
in the first line of the said section. 

4. Mining Board to manage its internal affairs. — The 
words Gold Commissioner shall be and are hereby struck out 
from Clause thirty-six (36) of the said Gold Fields' Act, 1859, 
wherever the same may occur therein, and in lieu thereof the 
words ' majority of the said Mining Board ' shall be inserted 
throughout such clause, which shall be read and construed 
accordingly, reserving, nevertheless, to the Gold Commissioner, 
the power hereinbefore specified in Clause 1 of this Act. 

5. Protection against dangerous works. — Upon complaint 
being made to him, the Gold Commissioner is hereby em- 
powered to order all mining works to be carried out in such 
manner as he shall think necessary for the safety of the public, 
or the protection of their rights, or the interest of the holders 
of claims adjoining to or affected by any such works, and to 
order any abandoned works to be either filled up or sufficiently 
guarded to his satisfaction, at the cost of the parties who may 
have constructed the same, or in case such parties shall be ab- 
sent, then to make such order in the premises as to such Gold 
Commissioner shall seem expedient. 

6. Hill or Tunnel Claims. — All claims situated on the banks 
of or fronting on any natural channel^ stream, ravine, or water- 
course, shall have a base line drawn parallel to the channel of 
the stream on which they may be located, such base line to 
constitute the frontage of such claims, and to be marked by 
posts of the- legal size placed at intervals of 100 feet. Lines 
drawn at right angles thereto to constitute the side lines or 
dividing lines between claims. 

7. Gold Commissioner may refuse to record certain Tunnel 
Claims. — Provided also that the Gold Commissioner shall 
have power to refuse to record any hill or tunnel claim on any 
creek, which claim or any part thereof shall include or come 
within 200 feet of any gulch or tributary of such creek. 

8. Gold Commissioner may decide all Mining Partnership 
Disputes. — Clause seventeen (17) of the Gold Fields' Act, 1859, 
is hereby repealed. 

N N 2 



548 APPENDIX. 

9. Bed-rock Flumes ; Power to Gold Commissioner to autho- 
rize Bed-rock Flumes. — It shall be lawful for the Gold Commis- 
sioner to grant, or agree to grant, rights of entry on or under 
any lands in the colony, for the purpose of constructing, laying, 
and maintaing bed-rock flumes, for such terms, not exceeding 
ten years, with, under, and subject to such of the conditions and 
stipulations hereinafter mentioned with regard to bed-rock 
flumes, as in the opinion of such Gold Commissioner the in- 
terests of mining in his district, for the time being, may render 
advisable. Provided that every such grant or agreement shall 
contain a proper reservation of the rights of the Crown, and of 
public rights of way and water, and reservations of land for 
public or governmental purposes, and (so far as consistent with 
the objects of such grant) a reservation of private rights arising 
for the time being. 

10. Who may be a Bed-rock Flume Company. — Three or 
more free miners may constitute themselves into a Bed-rock 
Flume Company within the meaning of this Act, and when duly 
authorized, as lastly hereinbefore mentioned, may enter upon 
any river, creek, gulch, ravine, or other water-course in the 
colony, for the purpose of constructing and laying a bed-rock 
flume therein, and when not otherwise expressed in such 
authority as aforesaid, with the rights and privileges, and under 
the limitations and restrictions hereinafter specified. 

11. Privileges of and requirements from Bed-rock Flume 
Companies. — Any company so authorized as aforesaid, and 
organized under the provisions of this Act, shall be entitled 
to enter upon any new and unworked river, creek, gulch, 
ravine, or water-course, and locate a strip of ground 100 feet 
wide and 200 feet long, in the bed of such stream, gulch, 
ravine, or water-course, to each man of the persons con- 
stituting such company, and shall have and enjoy the right of 
way from their upper line to extend the said flume for a further 
distance of 5 miles up the stream, gulch, ravine, or water- 
course, in the bed thereof. Provided that such company shall 
for each of the men constituting the same, construct and lay at 
least 50 feet of flume during the first year, and 100 feet annu- 
ally thereafter. 

12. Free miners may lay Bed-rock Flumes above Bed-rock 



EULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 549 

Flume Companies' Claim. — In case any free miner or miners 
shall enter upon, take up, and legally work any ground above the 
claim of the said Bed-rock Flume Company, and within the 
limits of their right of way, after the said company shall have 
become organized and located according to the provisions of 
this Act, such company shall be entitled to enter upon such 
claim or claims for the purpose of cutting a channel to and into 
the bed-rock if necessary, and of laying their flume through 
such claim or claims. 

Provided that such channel shall not be cut wider than ne- 
cessary for that purpose, and the owner or owners of such claim 
or claims shall be entitled to all the gold taken out of the cut. 

13. Free Miners may use, but not obstruct Bed-rock Flumes. 
— Any free miner or miners lawfully holding and working 
any claims on any gulch, ravine, stream, or water-course, where 
a bed-rock flume may be constructed under the provisions of 
this Act, shall be entitled to tail their sluices, hydraulics, and 
ground sluices into such flume, but so nevertheless as not in 
the opinion of the Gold Commissioner, by rocks, stones, boul- 
ders, or otherwise unnecessarily to obstruct the free working of 
such flume. 

Provided that such Bed-rock Flume Company shall be en- 
titled to all the gold deposited in such flume. 

14. Bed-rock Flume Companies may enter on ' abandoned 
ground.'' — Any company authorized and organized as afore- 
said, shall be, and are hereby empowered to enter upon any 
river, creek, gulch, ravine, or other water-course which may 
have been worked by miners and abandoned, and locate the 
entire bed of such stream, gulch, ravine, or water-course 
100 feet in width, and one-half mile of the length of such 
stream, gulch, ravine, or water-course, for each one of the free 
miners constituting such company, and such company shall pos- 
sess the exclusive right to work the ground so located. 

' Abandoned ground' how construed. — The term f aban- 
doned ground ' shall be construed to include all new and un- 
worked ground outside of claims actually held and worked upon 
any stream, gulch, ravine, or water-course, which may have 
been discovered and mined for two years or more. 

15. Bed-rock Flume Companies working < abandoned ground' 



550 APPENDIX. 

to be governed by Clause 12. — Bed-rock Flume Companies 
authorized and organized as aforesaid, and locating upon aban- 
doned streams or ground, shall be governed by Clause 12 of 
this Act, in all cases where free miners or companies of free 
miners shall be legally holding and working claims on such 
stream or ground, prior to and at the time of the location of 
such Bed-rock Flume Company's claim, if within the limits 
thereof. 

16. Rivers, Creeks, &c, when not deemed abandoned. — Any 
portion or part of any river, creek, gulch, ravine, or other water- 
course, having four or more free miners per mile, legally hold- 
ing and bona fide not colourably working claims, .on such stream, 
gulch, ravine, or water-course, shall not be deemed ' abandoned' 
within the meaning of this Act, but in such case any Bed-rock 
Flume Company desiring to run a flume through such portion 
or part of such stream, gulch, ravine, or water-course, shall be 
governed by the following clauses of this Act. 

17. Boundaries of Bed-rock Flume Company's claim, how 
fixed. — Any Bed-rock Flume Company, as aforesaid, locating 
upon any portion of a stream, gulch, ravine, or water-course 
referred to in Clause 16 hereof, shall have their location care- 
fully surveyed, and a post with a square top driven securely 
into the ground, upon the lower line of each such claims, 
within such company's limits, and shall at the time of setting 
up such posts give notice to each of the holders of such claims, 
in writing, of the distance in feet and inches at which such 
company's flume will strike any such miner's claim, or per- 
pendicularly below the top of such post, and the number of 
inches grade which such flume has in each 100 feet. 

18. After due notice, Bed-rock Flume Company can lay 
flume on any claim, — At the expiration of one calendar month, 
or such further time as the Gold Commissioner may allow, after 
survey and service of notice last aforesaid, it shall be lawful for 
such Flume Company to enter upon any claim or claims 
situated within such company's limits, and open a cut, and lay 
a bed-rock flume through such claim or claims, in case the 
owner or owners thereof shall have failed in the meantime to 
open their respective claims, and lay bed-rock flumes therein. 

Holder of such claim entitled to gold in flume. — Provided 



RULES FOE WOKK1NG GOLD MIKES. 551 

that if such Bed-rock Flume Company shall so enter upon and 
lay the said flume through any claim or claims, as last afore- 
said, the respective holder or holders of such claim or claims 
shall be entitled to all gold taken from the cat and bed-rock, 
in opening the said cut and laying the flume therein. 

19. What grades to be maintained by private Claim-holders. 
— Private claim-holders putting in bed-rock flumes to connect 
with bed-rock flumes put in by Bed-rock Flume Companies, 
shall maintain the like grade, and build their flumes as 
thoroughly and of as strong materials as are used by Bed-rock 
Flume Companies. 

20. Right of Claim-holders who have borne expense of bed-rock 
flume to become members of Bed-rock Flume Companies. — 
Individual or company claim-holders, after the bed-rock flume 
has been extended through their respective claims at their own 
expense, shall have right at any time before the abandonment 
of their claim or claims to become members of the Bed-rock 
Flume Company, by uniting their claim or claims with the 
ground of the company, and taking an interest proportionate 
to the area of the ground which they shall cede to the company, 
or work their ground on their own account, at their option. 

21. Right of Bed-rock Flume Company to Water. — Bed-rock 
Flume Companies, authorized and organized as aforesaid, shall 
be entitled to the use and enjoyment of so much of the un- 
occupied and unappropriated water of the stream or streams on 
which they may be located, and of other adjacent streams, as 
may be necessary for the use of their flames, hydraulic power, 
and machinery to carry on their mining operations, and shall 
have the right of way for ditches and flumes, to convey the ne- 
cessary water to their works, they being liable to other parties 
for any damage which may arise from running such ditch or 
flumes through or over their ground. 

22. Bed-rock Flumes declared personal property. — Bed-rock 
flumes, and any interest or interests therein, and all fixtures, 
are hereby declared to be personal property, and may be sold, 
mortgaged, transferred, or otherwise dealt with as such. 

23. Bed-rock Flume Company hoiv registered, and fees pay- 
able. — Bed-rock Flume Companies, authorized and organized as 
aforesaid, shall measure off their ground, set up their stakes, 



552 APPENDIX. 

post their notices, and register their claims in the same manner 
as individual free miners are required to do, and shall pay five 
pounds sterling per annum, in addition to the registration fee, 
for each half mile of claim and right of way legally held by 
such company. 

24. Individual Claim-holders flaming , subject to same rules. 
— Individual or company claim-holders, building bed-rock 
flumes through their own ground, to connect similar flumes 
built by Bed-rock Flume Companies, shall be subject to the 
same rules and regulations, with regard to cleaning up the flume 
repairs and other matters, in which both parties are interested, 
and pertaining to the rights hereby authorized and confirmed, 
as may be adopted by such Bed-rock Flume Company. 

25. Private Company may abandon claims, and appropriate 
gold in flume. — Provided that if any private or company 
claim-holders shall desire to abandon their respective claims, 
they may give notice to such Bed-rock Flume Company of such 
intention, and shall then have the right to proceed at once to 
clean up their portion of such flume, or wait until such com- 
pany cleans up, and then take all the gold which may be found 
in their portion of such flume. 

Such flume deemed abandoned and to revert to Bed-rock 
Flume Company. — Provided also that when such individual or 
company claim-holders shall have given the notice aforesaid, and 
cleaned up their section of the said flume, such claims shall be 
deemed to be abandoned with the flume therein, and such 
abandonment shall revert to the benefit of such Bed-rock Flume 
Company. 

26. Bed-rock Flume Notice. — Any free miners or company of 
free miners, applying for the privilege of constructing a bed- 
rock flume, shall comply with the requirements of Clause 
twenty-four (24) of the Gold Fields' Rules and Regulations, 
issued on the 7th day of September, 1859, and also put up a 
notice of such application in some conspicuous part of the town 
place, or at the Court House nearest to the locality applied for, 
at least five clear days before making such application. 

27. Deads and Leavings not to obstruct stream. — The period 
at the end of Clause two (2) of the Rules and Regulations issued 
on the 24th day of February 1863, is hereby struck out, and 



RULES FOE WORKING GOLD MINES. 553 

the following words added thereto, to wit : ' or shaft, and in 
no case shall the said deads or leavings, forkings from sluices, 
waste dirt, large stones or tailings be allowed to accumulate so 
as to obstruct the natural course of the stream.' 

28. Minor of sixteen (when partners) to be deemed adult free 
miners. — The interest of minors over sixteen years of age shall 
be subject to the same laws as apply to the interests of adult 
free miners, and they shall enjoy the same rights thereto as 
adults, but no person under the age of sixteen years shall be 
capable of holding any claim or interest therein. 

29. Mining co-partnerships. — And whereas it is necessary 
to provide facilities for the formation of mining co-partnerships, 
be it enacted — 

Minutes of co-partnership when no deed of partnership 
exists. — That all mining companies shall be governed by the 
provisions hereof, unless they shall have other and written 
articles of co-partnership properly signed, attested and recorded. 

30. Duration of mining co-partnership. — No mining co- 
partnership shall continue for a longer time than one year, 
unless otherwise specified in writing by the parties, but 
such co-partnership may be renewed at the expiration of each 
year. 

31. Confined to mining. — The business of the co-partners 
herein referred to shall be mining, and such other matters as 
pertain solely thereto. 

32. Powers of a Majority. — A majority of the co-partners, 
or their legally authorized agents, may decide the manner of 
working the claims of the co-partners, the number of men to 
be employed, and extent and manner of levying assessments to 
defray the expense of working the claim or claims of the com- 
pany, and all other matters pertaining thereto ; provided that 
every such company's claim shall be represented according, to 
law. Such majority may also choose a foreman or local 
manager, who shall represent the company, and have power to 
bind such company by his contracts, and sue and be sued in the 
name of the company for assessments and otherwise ; and every 
such partnership must register its partnership or company name 
with the Grold Commissioner. 

33. Assessments, when payable.— All assessments levied 



554 APPENDIX. 

during the time of working shall be payable within ten clear 
days after each such assessment. 

34. Payment of Assessment, in default how enforced. — Any 
party failing or refusing to pay any assessment or assessments, 
leviable according to the provisions of this Act, after having re- 
ceived any notice thereof, specifying the amount due during the 
period the said party may be delinquent, shall be personally 
liable to his co-partners for the amount of such delinquency, 
and the amount of such delinquent's indebtedness having been 
ascertained by a court of competent jurisdiction, his interest in 
said company's claim may be sold fof the payment of the 
amount found due, with interest (if any) and costs as hereafter 
specified. 

35. Notice of Sale.— The notice of sale of such delinquent's 
interest, or such part thereof as shall suffice to pay the amount 
of indebtedness, with interest and costs as aforesaid, shall be 
published by advertisement in some newspaper published in the 
district, for ten days prior to the day of sale, and if there be no 
paper published in the district, then notices of such sale shall 
be posted for the same length of time, in the vicinity of the 
claim or interest to be sold, and at the Court House nearest 
thereto. Such sale shall be by public auction to the bidder 
offering to pay the amount due for the smallest portion of said 
claim or interest. The purchaser at such sale, on payment of 
the purchase-money, shall acquire all the right, title, and 
interest of the delinquent, in and to the interest sold, and shall 
be entitled to the immediate possession thereof. 

36. No one recognised except a free miner in a claim. — The 
following part of Clause seven (7) of the Gold Fields' Act, 1859, 
shall be deemed to have been never repealed, that is to say, — 

No person shall be recognised as having any right or interest 
in or to any claim or ditch, or any of the gold therein, unless 
he shall be, or in case of disputed ownership, unless he shall 
have been at the time of the dispute arising, a free miner. 

37. Miner's record covers only unappropriated water* — 
Clause 3 of the Proclamation of the 25th day of March, 1863, 
is hereby repealed, and the following provisions are substituted 
in lieu thereof: 

In addition to the above rights, every registered free miner 



RULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 555 

shall be entitled to the use of so much of the water naturally 
flowing through or past his claim, and not already lawfully ap- 
propriated, as shall in the opinion of the Gold Commissioner be 
necessary for the due working thereof. 

38. Production of free miner's certificate before record. — It 
shall be lawful for the Gold Commissioner, previous to recording 
a claim or interest therein or other matter, to demand from the 
applicant the production of his free miner's certificate, and 
upon his refusal or neglect to produce the same, to refuse to 
record such claim, interest, or other matter. 

39. General fee on recording mining matter. — For every 
record which the Gold Commissioner shall be called upon to 
make, whether of leave of absence granted or any matter or 
thing whatever relating to mining, and for which a special fee 
shall not have been provided by any law, rate or regulation in 
that behalf in force for the time being, the Gold Commissioner 
shall charge a registration fee of ten shillings and sixpence, but 
for every search of a record only four shillings and twopence. 

40. Distinguishing number of claims abolished. — No dis- 
tinguishing number shall hereafter be required, or be deemed 
to have been ever required, for or in respect to any claim, any 
existing law or rule to the contrary notwithstanding. 

41. Gold in claim to be ore of gold. — All gold found in any 
gold mine in the colony shall be deemed and taken to be ore of 
gold, within the meaning of the statute. 

42. Claims recorded in the close season when laid over. — No 
claims located and recorded in any district within fourteen days 
after the claim therein shall have been laid over by the Gold 
Commissioner till the ensuing season or other specific date, shall 
be allowed or deemed to be so laid over, unless so much work 
shall have been bona fide expended thereon by the holders 
thereof, as shall in the opinion of the Gold Commissioner fairly 
entitle him to have such claim laid over. 

43. Three days' grace for every 10 miles before record. — 
Every free miner shall be allowed three days in which to record 
his claim by pre-emption after the same shall have been located, 
if such claim shall be within 10 miles of the Gold Commis- 
sioner's office ; if more than 10 miles from it, then one addi- 
tional day shall be allowed for every additional 10 miles or 
fraction of 10 miles, as the case may be. 



556 APPENDIX. 

44. Limits claims by pre-emption to two claims. — Every 
adult free miner shall be allowed to hold two claims by pre- 
emption, viz., one quartz claim and one other claim, and no more 
at the same time, but by purchase may hold any number or 
amount of claims or interests therein, which have been once 
duly registered, subject to the laws for the time being regulating 
the same. And every adult free miner may lawfully sell, mort- 
gage, transmit, or dispose of any number of claims or interests 
therein, lawfully held or acquired by him, whether by pre- 
emption or purchase. 

45. What is a miner's interest in a claim. — The amount of 
interest which a free miner has in his claim shall, save as against 
Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, be deemed and taken 
to be a chattel interest equivalent to a lease for a year, renew- 
able at the end of the first and every subsequent year, subject 
to the conditions as to forfeiture, working, representation, re- 
gistration, and otherwise, for the time being in force with respect 
to such claim or interest under any law or rule regulating the 
same. 

Forfeiture absolute. — Provided that every forfeiture of a 
claim under any such law or rule shall be absolute, any rule of 
law or equity to the contrary notwithstanding. 

46. Deceased free miner's claims not forfeitable. — In case 
of the death of any free miner, while registered as the holder of 
any claim or ditch, his claim or interest shall not be open to the 
occupation of any other person for non-working or non- repre- 
sentation, either after his decease or during the illness which 
shall have terminated in his decease. 

47. Gold Commissioner may keep afoot or sell deceased miner's 
claim. — And in all cases where the Grold Commissioner shall 
find that such free miner shall be possessed of a claim or ditch, 
or interest therein, he may cause the same to be duly repre- 
sented until sale on such terms as he shall think just, or dis- 
pense with the same at his option, or may sell such claim, ditch, 
or interest by auction, after ten days' public notice thereof, for 
such price as in his judgment he shall deem just and fair; and 
for the purpose aforesaid, the Gold Commissioner may employ 
and pay out of any assets of the deceased which may come to 
his hands, such valuers or persons as may be necessary. 

48.' Gold Commissioner's conveyance a good title. — Every 



EULES FOR WORKING GOLD MINES. 557 

assignment of any such interest by the Gold Commissioner shall 
convey to the assignee all the right and interest of the deceased 
miner, thereby purported to be conveyed, and shall be subject 
to the same registration and fees as if such assignment had 
been made by such miner before his decease. 

49. Notice of official administration. — The Gold Commis- 
sioner shall, in all cases of death of every registered free miner, 
give notice thereof as soon as conveniently may be, and also of 
any acts and interferences of such Gold Commissioner, to the 
official administrator, who shall in all cases which may seem 
fitting, take out probate or letters of administration as the case 
may require, and collect and get in the estate and effects of the 
deceased in the usual and proper way ; no such dealing or inter- 
ference as aforesaid, by the Gold Commissioner, shall make him 
in any way liable as an executor de son tort, or in any way liable 
for unintentional losses or in any other responsibility, than to 
account to the personal representative of the deceased, when 
duly constituted, for all monies actually received and expended 
by him in the matter of the estate and effects of the deceased. 

50. Allowance to Gold Commissioner. — Every Gold Commis- 
sioner who shall so act in the collection and custody of the 
estate and effects as aforesaid,, shall be entitled to his own use 
to an allowance thereout not exceeding in any ease 5 per 
cent, on the whole amount collected. 

51. Fees on registration as in Schedule. — On the registra- 
tion of any of the matters, acts, deeds, documents, or things 
mentioned in the Schedule hereto, there shall be payable in 
respect thereof by the party seeking such registration, the several 
duties and sums of money set opposite such matters, acts, deeds, 
documents, and things respectively in the schedule hereto, such 
payments to be taken by the Gold Commissioner or other officer 
effecting the registration at the time of each registration, and 
for the use of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors. 

52. Every sale, mortgage, alienation, or other disposition of 
any claim, ditch, or other mining property, or of any interest 
therein respectively, shall be made by an instrument in writing 
which shall be registered with the Gold Commissioner, or other 
officer duly authorised in that behalf in the district in which 
such property is situated, in separate books to be kept by him 



558 APPENDIX. 

for the purpose, and every such conveyance, mortgage, or other 
document shall set forth, truly expressed in words at length, the 
full bona fide price, consideration, or value that has been or has 
to be paid directly or indirectly in each transaction, or in default 
thereof shall be void. 

53. In case of any dispute, the title to claims, leases of auri- 
ferous earth or rock, ditches or water privileges, will be re- 
cognised according to the priority of registration, subject only 
to any question which may be raised as to the validity of any 
particular act of registration. 

54. Certified copy of record evidence. — Every copy or extract 
from any record or register, under or by virtue of this Act, or 
the Gold Fields' Act of 1859, the Proclamation of 25th day of 
March, 1863, or any gold rules and regulations required to be 
kept by any Gold Commissioner, and certified to be a true copy 
or extract under the hand of the Gold Commissioner, or other 
person authorised to take and keep such record or register ; 
shall in the absence of the original register, be receivable in 
any judical proceedings as evidence of all matters and things 
therein appearing. 

55. Saving of Crown rights. — Nothing herein shall be con- 
strued to limit, or abridge the prerogative rights of Her Majesty, 
her heirs and successors, in or to the Gold Fields of British 
Columbia. 

56. To be construed as one with the Gold, Fields' Act, 1859. — 
This Act shall be construed as far as possible with the Gold 
Fields' Act, 1859, and proclamation of the 25th day of March, 
1863, and the Kules and Eegulations made in pursuance thereof 
respectively. 

57. Schedule part of Act. — The schedule hereto shall be part 
of this Act. 

58. Short Title. — This ordinance may be cited for all pur- 
poses as the < Gold Fields' Act, 1864.' 

Passed the Legislative Council the 24th February, a.d. 1864. 

Charles Good, Clerk. 
Received my assent this twenty-sixth day of 
February, a.d. 1864. 

JAMES DOUGLAS, Governor. 



INDEX. 



INDEX 



ACA 

ACAPULCO, present condition of, 
12 

Ac-cla, copper lodes and quartz veins 
at, 50 

Acheewun, the Lamalcha Indian, and 
his robberies, 469 

Adam's River, the valley watered by, 
188 

Admiralty Island, salt springs on, 169. 
Farming land at, 186 

Agriculture in Vancouver Island, 172. 
Remunerative character of agricul- 
tural pursuits in the colony, 173. 
Climate of the Island, 174. Soils, 
182. Agricultural districts, 184. 
Crown lands, sold, unsold, and pre- 
empted, 184. Inviting districts for 
hardy pioneers, 189. Average yield 
of crops, 193. Stock, 195. Grazing, 
196. Prices of produce and stock in 
Vancouver, 197 — 199. Amount of 
agricultural produce introduced into 
Vancouver Island, 199. Clearing, 
times of sowing, &c, 201. Princi- 
pal articles for working and stocking 
a pre-empted farm, 205. Terms of 
settlement for land, 205. In British 
Columbia, 280. Climate of the colony, 
280. Soils, 284. Agricultural districts, 
285. Yield and prices of crops, 290. 
Dr. Taylor's statement of farming on 
the Upper Fraser River, 291. Stock 
raising, 291. Fruits, 293. Terms 
on which land may be acquired in 
British Columbia, 295. Land pro- 
clamations of Sir James Douglas, 
528 

Alberni canal, the, 51 

Albion, New, Drake's discovery of, 54 

Aleutian Islands, walrus fishing 
grounds near the, 169. Facilities 
at, for catching and curing fish, 1 69 



Alexandria, farming land at, 287. 

Alexandria, in Egypt, foundation of, 
336 

America, immediate cause of the dis- 
covery of, 339. 

American society, first experience of, 11. 
Ladies, 397 

Anderson & Co., their export trade in 
timber, 234. 

Anderson Lake, 215 

Anian, Straits of, 54 

Animals of Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 297. Scientific 
names of those found in Vancouver 
Island, 305 

Anthracite coal of Fuca Straits, 142 

Antler Creek, gold mining population 
of, in 1860 and 1861, 74. Diggings 
at, 243,244 

Antonio, San, silver mines of, 26 

Arabians, commerce of the, 338 

Arms of Indians, 443 

Arrowsmith, Mount, 40 

Artesian Gold Mining Company, Li- 
mited, 247 

Assay office in Victoria, 88 

Astoria, on the Columbia River, 28 

Australia, introduction of salmon into 
the rivers of, 125. Rhymes on the 
event, 125, note 

Azores, the, 2 



BACON, price of in Vancouver 
Island, 198. Demand for, at the 
mines of British Columbia, 291 
Banks in Victoria, 87 
Baker, Mount, eruption of, 216 
Barclay Sound, position of, 51 
Barley, price of, in Vancouver Island, 

197 
Bars, at the diggings, 240 

O 



562 



INDEX. 



BEA 

Beaconhill Park, Victoria, 77. View 

from the high knoll in the centre, 77 
Beans, price of, in Vancouver Island, 

198 
Bears in Vancouver Island and British 

Columbia, 297 
Beaver Lake, farming land at, 287. 
Beaver dams in Vancouver Island, 158. 

And in British Columbia, 300 
Beef, prices of, in Vancouver Island, 

197, 198 
Behring Straits, walrus fishing ground 

near, 169. Facilities at, for catching 

and curing fish, 169 
Bella Coola, or Nookhalk river, 236 
Bellingham Bay,lignitic beds at, 41, 42 
Bentinck Arm, route from the coast 

to the northern mines of British 

Columbia, 235. Indian murder at, 

462 
Benton, Thomas H., his interpretation 

of the Oregon Boundary Treaty, 37 
Bigbar Creek, farming land at, 287 
Birch, Mr., Colonial Secretary's report 

on the Kootanie diggings, 253 
Birds of Vancouver Island and British 

Columbia, 301 
Blanco, Cape, discovery of, 52 
Blanshard, Governor, how treated by 

the Hudson's Bay Company, 3 1 1 
Boulders, erratic, in Vancouver Island, 

43 
Bowls, wooden, of the Vancouver 

Island Indians, 50 
Breweries in Victoria, 85 
Bridge Creek, farming land at, 287 
Brine springs of Salt Spring Island, 48. 

Of Naniamo, 48 
Brown, Mr., his description of Van- 
couver Island, 46. His discovery of 

gold at Sooke river, 156 
Brunswick, New, timber trade of, com- 
pared with that of Vancouver Island, 

137 
Bucardi, Port, discovery of the Bay of, 

56 
' Bunch-grass ' in British Columbia, 

293 
Burial among the Indians, 447 
Burrard Inlet, exploded argument in 

its favour as a naval station, 127. 

Coal seams at, 41, 151 
Bute Inlet, route to the northern mines 

by, 238. Indian massacre of the 

whites at, 463 
Butter, price of, in Vancouver Island, 

197, 198 
Buzzards at Panama, 10 



CHI 

OABRILLO, Juan, his expedition 
from Xalisco north, 52 

Calaveras County, mammoth-trees of, 
24 

California, passage from Panama to, 10. 
The steamer and her passengers, 10. 
Gulf of, 12. Description of the 
state of California, 13. Fertility of 
the valleys of, 22. The vine, 22. 
Vegetables, 22. ^The mammoth-trees, 
24. Resources of the state, 24, 25. 
Placer diggings and hydraulic mining 
at, 26. Discovery of, 52. Rush from 
California to the Fraser river, 64, 65. 
Table of exports from Victoria to, in 
October 1864,115. Civil disabilities 
of Chinese and negroes in, 381. Their 
temples to Buddha in, 385 

Canada, heavy import duties in, 92. 
Timber trade of, contrasted with 
that of Vancouver Island, 137 

Cannibals among the Indians, 436 

'Caribes' of the West Indies, 4 

Cariboo, diary of a journey from Doug- 
las to, 224. Paths from William's 
Lake to, 235. Character of the Ca- 
riboo district, 245. 'Creeks and 
Gulches,' 246. Prediction of Sir Rod- 
erick Murchison, 246. Prospects of 
Cariboo, 251. Prices at Cariboo in 
November 1864, 252. 

Carthagena, town of, 6. Sharks off, 7 

Cascade Mountains, the, 216, 237. 
Climate west of the, 282 

Catholics, Roman, in Vancouver Island, 
82. The Sisters of Charity on the 
coast of the Pacific, North of Mexico, 
81. In New Westminster, 220. Influ- 
ence of the Roman Catholics over the 
Indians, 472. Bishop de Mers' self- 
interpreting Bible, 475 

Cattle, horned, in Vancouver Island, 
195. In British Columbia, 293 

Cavendish, his adventures in the Pa- 
cific, 54 

Caviare, a bushel of, taken from one 
sturgeon, 167 

Channel Islands, causes of the flourish- 
ing condition of the, 93. 

Cheese, price of, in Vancouver Island, 
198 

Chilukweyuk, pastoral land at, 222, 228 

China, demand for timber in, 122. 
Extent of Navigation of the Yangtse 
and Amoor Rivers, 122. Increasing 
trade with the Celestial Empire, 122. 
Current of warm water breaking at 
Vancouver Island, 175. 



INDEX. 



563 



CHI 

Chinamen, number of, in California, 24. 
At Cariboo, 233. At Hope and Fort 
Yale, 24. Civil disabilities of the, in 
California, 381. Their habits in Cali- 
fornia and the British Colonies, 382. 
Results of missionary labour amongst 
them, 383. Their temples to Buddha, 
in California, 385. Visit to one, 385. 
The Chinese address to Governor 
Kennedy, in Vancouver Island, 386. 
Christianity among the Indians, 472, 

et seq. 
Clay, blue, found in Vancouver Island, 

154 
Clayoquot Sound, mineral wealth of, 5 1 
Clearing land in Vancouver Island, 201 
Climate of Vancouver Island, 174. The 
China current at, 175. Fraser river 
freshets, 176. Mean of the ther- 
mometer, 176. Occasional cold 
winters, 176. Drs. Forbes and Rat- 
tray's register of the weather, 177. 
The climate compared with that of 
Canada and London, 179. Aspect 
of nature in May, 180. The climate 
of Vancouver Island, in its con- 
nexion with health, 181. The climate 
of British Columbia, 280. And of 
the proposed emigrant route from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, 368, 369 
Clinton, town of, 233 
Civil list of Vancouver Island, 319, 320 
Coal in Vancouver Island, 141. The 
mines of Nanaimo, 41, 48, 141. 
Coals of Quatsino Inlet, 49. Those 
on the American side of Fuca Straits, 
142. Consumption of coal in the 
North Pacific, 142. Coals from 
Coose Bay and Mount Diablo, 142. 
Coal fields of Bellingham Bay and 
Washington Territory, 142. Supe- 
riority of the Vancouver Island coals, 

142. Chemical comparison of Van- 
couver Island coal with other varieties, 

143. Dr. Rattray's statement re- 
specting the importation of coal into 
San Francisco, 143. Comparative 
lists of prices of coal at Vancouver 
Island and San Francisco, 144. Thick- 
ness of the seams at Nanaimo, 144. 
Formation of the Vancouver Island 
Coal, Mining, and Land Company, 145. 
Total quantity shipped from Nanaimo 
146. Report of the company, quoted, 
146, 147. Markets for Vancouver 
Island Coal, 149. Formation of the 
Harewood Coal Mining Company, 
149. Coa scams at other places in 
the Island, 150, 151 



COM 

Cod-banks, said to exist in Plumper's 
Pass and North of Vancouver Island, 
168 

Colleges and schools in Victoria, 84 

' Colonial School, the,' in Victoria, 84 

Colonies, claims of young, on the aid 
of England, 508. Care of the Uni- 
ted States for young colonies, 511. 
Colonial statistics, circulated for the 
Colonial Emigration Society, for the 
year 1859, 517 

Columbia River, the, 28 

Columbia, British, discovery of gold in, 
64. The letters of the ' Times ' cor- 
respondent in 1862, 75. Proposed 
union of with the free port of Victoria, 
95, 323. Advantages of the free port 
to British Columbia, 95. Resolutions 
passed by the legislature of Vancou- 
ver Island respecting the proposed 
union, 105. The sea-board of Brit- 
ish Columbia, 207. Explorations of 
Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 208. 
Geology and physical geography, 
209. General description, 215. The 
coast, 215. New Westminster, 216. 
Total value of imports into British 
Columbia during 1861, 1862, and 
1863, 217. Shipping and custom 
returns, 218. Journey from Douglas 
to Cariboo, 224. Pass from the coast 
to the northern mines, 235. The 
mines of British Columbia,240. Agri- 
cultural resources of the colony, 
280. Animals and vegetables, 297. 
The first legislative council, 322. 
Public expenditure of the British 
Columbian Government in 1863,310. 
Comparative statement of revenue 
from 1859-1863, 326. Check 
given to immigration by the re- 
strictive policy of the Colonial 
Government and the Hudson's Bay 
Company, 326. Red-;apeism as to 
land in the colony, 329, 330. Tes- 
timony of the grand jury of the 
colony as to the doings of the land 
office, 332. The negro element, 388. 
Religion in the colony, 418. The 
Indians of British Columbia, 423 

Comiaken, Vancouver Island, 46. Farm- 
ing land in, 185 

Common school system, the, about to 
be introduced into Vancouver Island, 
84 

Comox Valley, agricultural district of, 
49. Extent of farming land at, 187 

Comstock gold lead at Washoe, the, 
155 



O O 2 



564 



INDEX. 



CON 

Congregationalists, the, in Victoria, 83 

Conifers of Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 305 

Cook, Captain, his reconnaissance of 
the coast in the North Pacific, 56, 57. 
His opinion of De Fuca's story, 57. 

Coose Bay, coal of, 142 

Copper, lodes of, at Koskeenio, 50. 
Copper mines in Vancouver Island, 
151. Queen Charlotte Island mines, 
151, 152. Inspection of a vein of 
copper in Vancouver, 152. Want of 
capital to develope this source of 
•wealth, 153 

Coquahalla, diggings at, 241 

Cortez silver mines, 26 

Cottonwood, at Lightning Creek, 229 

Courtenay River, excellent farming land 
of the region of the, 187. Its junc- 
tion with the Puutluch River, 188 

Coutts, Miss Burdett, her foundation of 
the diocese of Columbia, 8 1 

Cowichan River, gold found in the bars 
of, 47 

Cowichan, agricultural district of, 46. 
Width of Cowichan Valley, 47. Pro- 
lific character of the soil, 47. Farm- 
ing land in, 185 

Creation, Indian tradition of the, 450 

Crests, Indian, 445 

Crime in Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 418 

Crops, average yield of, in Vancouver 
Island, 193, 194. Prices of, in Brit- 
ish Columbia, 290 

Customs' revenue at New Westminster, 
218 



DA IRY produce in British Columbia, 
294 
Davidson's Farm, British Columbia, 291 
Deer Island, pure copper found at, 153 
Deer in Vancouver Island and British 

Columbia, 189, 301 
De Mers, Bishop, his self-interpreting 

Bible for the Indians, 475 
Diablo, Mount, coals of, 142 
Diggings. See Gold Mining 
Diseases of Vancouver Island, 181, 182 
Dog-fish caught off British Columbia, 

167 
Douglas, Governor Sir James and the 
San Juan dispute, 31, 32. His appoint- 
ment and leanings, 311, 312. His 
restrictive policy, 326. His re- 
marks on Esquimalt Harbour as a 
naval station, 67. Notice of him, 393. 
His personal appearance, 393. His de- 



ESQ 

portment, 394. His petty diplomacy, 
395. His modes of dealing with the 
Indians, 460. His adventure with an 
Indian tribe, 466. His land procla- 
mations, 528 

Douglas pine, value of the, 132. Age 
and soundness of the, 132, 133 

Douglas Lake, 223 

Douglas Town, 223. Journey from 
Douglas to Cariboo, 223 

Drake, Sir Francis, his adventures in the 
Pacific, 53. His journey north, 53. 
Parallel of latitude reached by him, 
54. His discovery of New Albion, 
54. 

Dramas of the Indians, 430 

Duncan, Mr., his labours among the 
Indians, 476 



EAGLES, Fish, in Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia, 301 

East, trade with the, coveted by west- 
ern natives from remote antiquity, 
336, 337. Effect of the discovery of 
the route by the Cape of Good Hope, 
339. The discovery of America, the 
result of the search for a fhort route 
to the East, 339. Object of the search 
for the North-west Passage and why 
a failure, 340, 341. Proposed inter- 
oceanic railway, 335, et seq. 

Eggs, price of, in Vancouver Island, 
197 

Elks in Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 189, 300 

Emigrants, inviting districts in Van- 
couver Island for, 189. Extent of 
the troubles to be anticipated from 
the Indians, 190. Inducement to 
emigration to Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 493. Classes en- 
couraged to emigrate, 493. Those 
not wanted, 495. Openings for re- 
spectable women, 496. The dance 
round a bonnet, 497. Cautions to 
emigrants, 498. Rates of wages, 
499. Prices, 500. Routes to the colo- 
nies, 502. Hints as to the choice of 
a vessel and outfit, 505. The Irish 
in America, 513. Importance of the 
subject of emigration, 514. Extracts 
from Messrs. Silvers' pamphlet re- 
specting emigrants, 520 

' England of the Pacific,' the, 39 

Esmeralda silver mines, 26 

Esquimalt, harbour of, 43. Extent and 
depth of, 43, 44. Governor Douglas's 
remarks on its unequalled superi- 



INDEX. 



565 



FAL 

ority, 67. Its value to the city of 
Victoria and as a naval station, 127. 
The harbour dues, 525. Exports of 
gold from the port of Victoria from 
1858 to 1864, 109. English and 
American goods for six months end- 
ing December 1863, 112. To for- 
eign ports during October 1864, 113. 



FALL of man, correspondence be- 
tween the Scriptural account of the, 
and the traditions of the Indians of 
the Rocky Mountains, 455 

Farming capabilities of Vancouver Is- 
land and of British Columbia. See 
Agriculture 

Ferns, roots of, for feeding hogs, 196. 
Monster ferns of Vancouver Island, 
48 

Ferrela, his expedition in the North 
Pacific, 52 

Fisheries of Vancouver Island and Bri- 
tish Columbia, 121, 163. Herrings, 
163. Hoolakans, 163. Salmon, 165. 
Trout, 167. Sturgeon, 167. Halibut, 

167. Smelt, 167. Haddock, whiting, 
and dog-fish, 167. Sea perch, rock, 
&c, 168. Cod, 168. Seal and whales, 

168. Morse or walrus, 169. Suit- 
ability of Vancouver Island for an 
export trade in fish, 170. Fisheries 
on the Atlantic coast, 170, 171 

Flat-head Indians, 441 

Flattery, Cape, 57 

Flood, Indian tradition of the, 454 

Flora of Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 304 

' Flutter-wheels,' use of, in gold- mining, 
276 

Foley, Mr., his account of the gold re- 
gion of Sooke river, 157 

Forbes, Dr. R. N., his observations on 
the geological structure of Vancouver 
Island, 41. His register of the weather 
in 1850, 177 

Fortune -telling among the Indians, 446. 

Foxes on Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 298 

Francisco, San, foundation and growth 
of the city of, 14. Exports, 15. Dis- 
covery of gold, 15, 16. General Sut- 
ter's mill, 16. Californian life in 1849, 
17. Rowdyism and the Vigilance 
Committee, 17, 19. Destruction of 
the city six times by fire, 19. Pre- 
sent condition of it, 20. Judge 
Mc Almond, 20. Progress of the city, 
21. The mint, 22. Chinamen in 



GLA 

San Francisco, 24. Effect of the 
high tariff in San Francisco upon the 
trade of Victoria, 121. Consumption 
of coal in, 142, 145. Dr. Rattray's 
statement respecting the imports of 
coal into, 143. One of the head- 
quarters of the North Pacific whalers, 
169 

Fraser River, discovery of gold at, 64. 
The rush from California, 64, 65. 
The monthly license granted to 
miners, 66. Description of the coun- 
try drained by the river, 66. Return 
of some of the speculators to Cali- 
fornia, 69. Settlements on the bars 
between Hope and Yale, 69. The 
new route via Douglas, and its hard- 
ships, 69, 70. Yield of gold on the 
Fraser for the first four months, 72. 
Gold found on the forks of the Ques- 
nelle, 74. Sand bars at the mouth of 
the river, 216. Scenery ascending 
the river, 216. The Lower Fraser, 
221, 222. Gold-diggings north-west 
of the Fraser River, 262. Farming 
on the Upper Fraser, 291. Abun- 
dance of salmon found in the, 165. 
Trout found in the Lower Fraser, 
167. Sturgeons caught in it, 167. 
Seal at the mouth of the river, 168. 
Freshets of the river, and coolness 
caused by them, 176 

French, the, in Victoria, 80 

Friendly Cove, 57 

Fruit of British Columbia, 293. Wild 
fruit of Vancouver Island, 47, 48, 
186 

Fuca, Juan de, story of, and of his 
imagined discovery of a north-east 
passage, 54. Captain Cook's opinion 
of the story, 57 

Fuca Straits, 40. Survey of, by Captain 
Vancouver, 58. Anthracite coal of, 
142 



GAMBLE, Fort, prosperity of the 
saw-mills of, 136 

Gambling among the Indians, 444 

Gas-works in Victoria, 85 

Gaspy, in Canada, restrictions on ex- 
ports from, 92 note 

Geological structure of Vancouver Is- 
land, 41. Of British Columbia, 209 

Georgia, Gulf of, islands of the, 45. 
Minerals found in these islands, 45. 
Numbers of whales in the Gulf, 168 

Germans, the, in Victoria, 80 

Glacial phenomena, records of, in Van- 



566 



INDEX. 



GOL 

couver Island, 42, 43. Glacier tunnel 
near Knight's Canal, 236 
Gold, discovery of, in California, 15 
16. Mining operations, 26. Riches 
of Oregon, 28. Gold-bearing rocks 
near South River, 46. Gold found 
in the bars of Cowichan River, 47. 
Discovery of the precious metal in 
British Columbia in 1S58, 64. The 
rush to the Fraser River, 64, 65. 
Yield of gold on this river for the 
first four months, 72. Exports of 
gold from Victoria from 1858 to 
1864, 109. Gold mining in Van- 
couver Island, 154. The existence 
of gold known since 1850, 154. The 
Hudson's Bay Company's miners in 
Queen Charlotte Island, 154. The 
Goldstream 'diggings' near Victoria, 
155. Formation of companies to 
work the mines, 155. Governor 
Kennedy's vigorous measures for the 
exploration of the colony, 1 55. The 
discovery of gold on the banks of 
the Sooke River, 156. General cha- 
racter of the country from the har- 
bour to the canon, 157. Richness of 
the Sooke district, 158-160. Dig- 
gings on the east side of Leech River, 
162. Gold found at Jordan River, 
162. Diggings at Hope, 240. At 
Fort Yale, 241. At Similkameen, 
OKanagan, and Rock Creek, 241. 
At Tranquille and North Rivers, 
and Kamaloops Lake, 243. At Ques- 
nelle River and Antler River, 243. 
Cariboo, 245. The Artesian Gold 
Mining Company Limited, 247. Re- 
markable instances of success, 248. 
Lowhee Creek, 249. Shuswap dig- 
gings, 252. The Kootanie district, 
253. Diggings north-west of the 
Fraser River, 262. Mining laws of 
the colony, 263 (and see also Ap- 
pendix). Description of the process 
of mining, 266. Essentials for carry- 
ing on mining operations success- 
fully, 266. The art of ' prospect- 
ing,' 267. Use of the ' rocker,' 268. 
Hydraulic mining, 270. ' Water 
companies,' 273. The ' flutter- 
wheel,' 274. Turning a river out 
of its bed, 274. ' Ground sluicing,' 
274. Tunnelling, 276. Quartz 
mining, 276. Gold discoveries east 
of the Rocky Mountains, 361. 
Slang in vogue at the diggings, 415. 
Kindheartedness of the miners, 
418. Their ten commandments, 



H0R 

418. Rules and regulations for 
working gold mines, 533-559 
Grain, prices of, in Vancouver Island, 

197 
Granite of Vancouver Island, 43 
Grasses of Vancouver Island and Bri- 
tish Columbia, 305 
Grasshoppers, Indian mode of catching, 

for food, 448 
Grazing in Vancouver Island, 196 
' Ground sluicing' in gold mining, 276 



HADDOCK caught off British Co- 
lumbia. 167 

Halibut, caught round the coast, 167. 
Enormous size of some of them, 167 

Hamburg, its flourishing condition as 
a free port, 92 

Hams price of, in Vancouver Island, 
198 

Hare, the, unknown in Vancouver Island, 
but inhabiting British Columbia, 300 

'Harewood Coal Mining Company,' 
formation of the, 149 

Harvey, General, visit at San Juan, 
30 

Harrison Lake, 223. River, its con- 
fluence with the Fraser, 223 

Hay, price of, in Vancouverlsland, 197 

Haynes, Mr., his dispatch respecting 
the Kootanie diggings, '253 

Health, the climate of Vancouver Island 
in connection with, 181 

Heceta, Bruno, his expedition to dis- 
cover a north-east passage, 56 

Heraldry, system of, among the Indians, 
444 

Herrings on the coast of Vancouver 
Island, 163 

Hills, Bishop, his appeal for thirteen 
additional clergy and five catechists, 
82 notes. His awkward predicament 
with the Indians, 475 

Hindoos, commerce of the ancient, 337 

Hogs, in Vancouver Island, 196. Of 
British Columbia, 291 

Hongkong, as a free port, 93 

Honolulu, one of the head-quarters of 
the North Pacific whalers, 169 

Hoolakans, shoals of, in the rivers of 
Vancouver Island, 163. Oil pressed 
from them, 164. Used by the natives 
as torches, 165 

Hope, town of, 230, Site of, 231. Dig- 
gings at, 240 

Hops produced in Vancouver Island, 
194 

Horses in Vancouver Island, 195. Na- 



INDEX. 



567 



HUD 

tive horses from the Sandwich Islands, 
195. Of British Columbia, 293 
Hudson's Bay Company, post of the, at 
Fort Rupert, 49. Obtain a grant of 
Vancouver Island from Government, 
58,59. Their monopoly and its result 
on the colonisation of the island, 62. 
Mr. Labouchere and the prosperity 
of Vancouver Island, 63. Impediments 
caused by the restrictions of the 
Company, 69. Its gold-mining opera- 
tions in Queen Charlotte Island, 154. 
Settlement of its quarrels with the 
Montreal or North- West Company, 
208. Trade of the Company till 1858, 
208, 209. Its Fort at Longley on 
the Lower Fraser, 222. Grant of 
Vancouver Island to it, 310. Check 
given to immigration by the restric- 
tive policy of the Government in 
1858, 326. Question of the adjust- 
ment of the right of the Hudson's 
Bay Company in the event of the 
construction of an interoceanic rail- 
way, 356. Discussion in the House 
of Commons on the rights of the 
Company, 371 
Humboldt silver mines, 26 
Hydah Indians, their thefts, 458 
Hydraulic mining, for gold, 270 



IMMIGRANTS, simplicity of some 
of the new comers, 396 

Imports, amount of, into the port of 
Victoria in 1861-1863, 106 

Incantations of the Indians, 439 

Indian burying places, 226 

Indians, troubles to be apprehended 
from, by intending emigrants to Van- 
couver Island, 190. Those of Van- 
couver Island and British Col- 
umbia, 423. Theories as to their 
origin. 423. Territorial limits of the 
tribes, 428. Their ideas of rank, 429. 
Festive ceremonies, 430. Their * pot- 
latch,' 430. Dramatic exhibitions, 432. 
The mysteries of ' Kluquolla,' 433. 
Medicine-men and their atrocities, 
434-436. Cannibals, 436. Education 
of the 'allied,' 437. Medical men, 
438. Incantations, 439. Witchcraft, 

440. Indian ideas of personal beauty, 

441. Flattening of the head, 441. 
Women, 442. Tattooing, 442. Arms, 
443. An Indian village, 443. Gamb- 
^ng, 444. Indian heraldry, 444. For- 
tune-telling, 446. Marriages, 446. 

Burial, 447. Food, 448. Catching 



KEN 

grasshoppers, 448. Rain-making, 
451. Indian tradition of the creation, 
450. And of the fall of man, 451. 
Indian idea of the cause of thunder 
and lightning, 456. Their ideas of 
a future state, 457. Indian thieves, 
458. Severe measures adopted 
against them, 459. Their massacres 
of whites, 462. Internecine wars 
among them, 470. Scalping, 470. Pro- 
titution among them, 471. Roman 
Catholic missions, and their influence 
among the Indians, 472, 473. The 
sign of the cross, 472-474. Indian 
selfish motives in religion, 476. 
Mr. Duncan's labours, 476. Hind- 
rances to missionary works, 478. 
The new Christian settlement at 
Metlakatlah, 483. Ingenuity of the 
Indians, 484. Industrial arts and 
missions, 485. Threatened extinction 
of the Indians, 487 

Indies, West, approach to the ' Virgin 
Group,' 3. Columbus's discoveries, 
3, 4. The ' Caribes' of the, 4 

Inn, an, on the road to Cariboo, 226 

Insanity in the colonies, 410. Grog, 411, 
The religious maniac, 411 

Insects of Vancouver Island and Brit- 
ish Columbia, 303 

Irish, the, in America, 512 

Iron manufactures of Victoria, 85. 
Magnetic iron ore, found in Van- 
couver Island, 153 

Isinglass made from the swimming 
bladder of the sturgeon, 167 



JAPAN, advantages to be derived by 
Victoria in opening of a trade with, 

123 
Jew, the ' skedaddled,' 409 
Jews, their synagogue in Victoria, 83 
Johnstone's Straits, 49, 58 
Jordan River, gold found at, 162 
Joint stock companies in Victoria, 85, 

86 
Juan, San, visit to the island of, 29. 

The difficulty between England and 

the United States in 1859, 29-38 



KAMALOOPS Lake, diggings at, 
243 

Karus, Lake, character of the land 
near, 189 

Kayoquot, district of, 50 

Kendrick, Captain, his alleged dis- 
covery of the channel separating 



568 



INDEX- 



KEN 

Vancouver Island from the main 
land, 57 

Kennedy, Governor, his vigorous mea- 
sures for the exploration of Vancou- 
ver Island, 155. His reception in 
Vancouver Island, 322. Chinese 
address to him, 386. Indian address 
to him, 468 note. 

King George III.'s Archipelago, dis- 
covery of a portion of, 56 

Kluquolla, Indian mysteries of, 433 

Kootanie diggings, the, 252. Mr. 
Haynes's dispatch respecting the, 
253. Report hy Mr. Colonial Sec- 
retary Birch, 255. Farming land in 
the, 290 

Kootanie Indians, the, 257 

Koskeemo sound, 49. Country from 
Cape Scott to, 50. Coal seams at, 151 



LADIES' College in Victoria, 84. 
American, 397 

La Hache Lake, 227 

Lamalchas Indians, their rohberies, 
469 

Langley, on the Lower Fraser, 221. 
Coal seams at, 151. The Hudson's 
Bay Company's Fort at, 221. Farm- 
ing land at, 286 

Lard, price of, in Vancouver Island, 
198 

Leech river, silver found at, 158. Dig- 
gings on the east side of the, 162 

Lignitic beds at Burrard's inlet and 
Bellingham Bay, 41 

Lightning-bugs, at Panama, 10 

Lilloet, 225, 226. Meadows at Port 
Pemberton, 286 

Limestone in Vancouver Island, 154 

Lock, Michael, his narrative of Juan 
de Fuca's imagined discovery of a 
north-east passage, 54 

Lowhee Creek, gold diggings of, 249, 
251 

Lytton, town of, 233 



MACKENZIE, Sir Alexander, his 
explorations in British Columbia, 

208 
Mammoth-trees of California, 24 
Manufactories in Victoria, 85 
Marble, blue, found on the coast of 

Vancouver Island, 154 
Marriages among the Indians, 446 
Martens in Vancouver Island and 

British Columbia, 297 
Mayne, Commander, R.N,, his explo- 



NEG 

rations of part of Vancouver Island, 
187 

Mc Almond, Judge, of San Francisco, 20 

McNeil Fort, coal mines at, 151 

Meares, Captain, his discovery of the 
channel separating Vancouver Is- 
land from the main land, 57 

Medicine-men of the Indians and their 
doctrines, 434 s 435. Their mummery 
of rain-making, 449. Their opposi- 
tion to missionary work, 479 

Metallic riches of California and 
British Columbia, 24, 25 

Metchosin, agricultural settlement, of, 
43, 185 

Methodists, the, in Victoria, 83 

Mexico, objects of the French in, 13. 
The priests of, 13. The trade of 
Victoria with, 111 

Milk, price of, in Vancouver Island, 
198 

Mining, gold. See Gold mining 

Mining laws of the colony, 263 (and 
Appendix) 

Mink, the, in Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 297 

Moffat, Mr. Hamilton, his exploration 
of Vancouver Island, from Nimpkish 
River to Nootka Sound, 188 

Morse or walrus fishing grounds in the 
North Pacific, 169 

Mountains between Cape Scott and 
Koskeemo Sound, 50 

Mules in British Columbia, 293 

Murchison, Sir Robert, his prediction 
respecting Australia and Cariboo, 
246 



NAN AIMO, town and harbour of, 48 
Salt springs of, 48. Coal mines 
of, 41, 48, 141,. 142. The country 
surrounding Nanaimo, 49. Thick- 
ness of the coal seams, 144. Con- 
venience of the harbour for shipping 
coal, 144. The Vancouver Island 
Coal Mining and Lead Company and 
its profits, 145. Total quantity 
shipped from Nanaimo up to Decem- 
ber 1863, 145. Salt springs at, 169. 
Character of the land around, 186. 
Address of the Indians of, to Go- 
vernor Kennedy, 468, note 

Nanoose river, farming land in the 
valley of the, 187 

Napoleon III., his designs in relation 
to Mexico and trade in the Pacific, 
367 

Negroes, civil disabilities of the, in 



INDEX. 



569 



NEV 

California, 381. Those in Van- 
couver Island, 388. Differences 
between negroes and the whites, 
388 

Nevada, quartz mills and crushing 
power in, 27 

Newfoundland, fisheries of, 170 

Nootka Sound, 50 

Nootka Island, 50, 51. The present 
number of the Nootka Indians, 51 

North-east passage, Juan de Fuca's 
imagined discovery of a, 54. Expe- 
dition of Juan de Perez, 55 

North River, diggings at, 243 

North west passage, object of the 
search for the, and why a failure, 
340, 341 



OATS, price of, in Vancouver Island, 
197 

Odessa, flourishing trade of, 92 

Officials, defalcations of, in Vancouver 
Island, 399 

Oil extracted from the hoolakan fish, 
164. Indian method of obtaining it, 
164. That extracted by them from 
the dog-fish, 167, 168 

OKanagan, Lake, abundance of trout in, 
167. Diggings in the tributaries of, 
242. 

OKanagan district, farming land at, 
231, 288, 289 

Orchards in Vancouver Island, 199, 
In Oregon, 199 

Oregon, gold mines of, 28. The mon- 
ster fruit of, 28, 199. The Oregon 
boundary, 37. Exports from Victoria 
to, in October 1864, 115. Population 
of, in 1850 and at present, 126, 127. 

Orford, Cape, discovery of, 53 

Otters in Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 298 

Outfit of emigrants, 506 

Oxen, demand for, in Vancouver Island, 
196 

PACIFIC OCEAN, discovery of the, 
25 

Panama, isthmus of, 7. Railway on 
the, 7, 9. Scenes on the, 8. Town 
of, 9. Islands in the bay of, 10. 

Parmeter Gold Mining Company, for- 
mation of the, 155 

Partridges in the interior of Vancouver 
Island, 189 

Pavilion Mountain, 226. Road over 
the, 233. Experience of farming 
north of the, 286, 287 



PUN 

Pears, monster, of Oregon, 28 

Peas, price of, in Vancouver Island, 

198 
Peavine silver mines, 26 
Pelley, Sir J. H., obtains a grant of 

Vancouver Island for the Hudson's 

Bay Company, 58, 59 
Pemberton, Mr., his explorations in 

Vancouver Island in 1857, 46 
Perch, sea, 168 

Perez, Juan de, his expedition to dis- 
cover the north-west passage, 55. 

His discovery of Queen Charlotte's 

Island, 56 
Perron, M. du, his comparison between 

the timber of the Douglas pine and 

spars from Riga, 133 
Petra, commerce of, 339 
Pico, Island of, 2 
Pilot-fish, 7 
Political statistics of Vancouver Island, 

310 
Pork, fondness of the Chinese and 

mining population for, 196. Price of, 

in Vancouver Island, 198 
Portland, state of Oregon, 28 
Ports, free, the principal ones in the 

world, 91. Victoria as a free port, 

91 
Postal communication with England, 

necessity for direct, 507 
Potatoes grown in British Columbia, 

292 
' Potlatch,' the. of the Indians, -430 
Prairie, the Grand, 289. Prairies at 

Sumass and Chilukweyuk, 222. Of 

OKanagan, 231 
Precipice, the, on the road north, 236 
Presbyterians, the, in Victoria, 83. In 

New Westminster, 221 
Prescriptions, medical, among the In- 
dians, 438 
Prevost, Captain, of H. M. S. ' Satellite, 

31 
Prices at Cariboo in November 1864, 

252. Of crops in British Columbia, 

290. In Vancouver Island and Brit- 
ish Columbia, 500 
Prince Edward's Island, heavy customs' 

duties at, 92 
' Prospecting ' for gold, the art of, 

267 
Provisions, prices of, in Vancouver 

Island, 198 
Puget Sound, saw-mills at, 135, 136 
Puma, the, in Vancouver Island and 

British Columbia, 298 
Puntluch River, the, 188. Its junction 

with the Courtenay River, 188 



570 



INDEX. 



QUA 



QTJADKA, Francesco de la Bodegay, 
his expedition to discover a north- 
west passage, 56. His discovery 
of a portion of King George III.'s 
Archipelago, 56 

Quamichan, Vancouver Island, 46. 
Farming land in, 185 

Quartz mining, 276. Primitive expe- 
dients for crushing quartz, 277. 
Steam power, 278 

Quatsino Inlet, coal and other minerals 
of, 49 

Quatsino Bay, 50 

Queen Charlotte's Sound, navigated hy 
Juan de Fuca, 55 

Queen Charlotte's Island, discovery of, 
56. The copper mine at, 151. Re- 
port of a mining engineer on the 
mine, 152. The Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany's goldmines in, 154 

Quesnelle, town of, 228 

Quesnelle River, 228. Gold mines 
discovered at the forks of, 74, 243 



RABBITS unknown in Vancouver 
Island, hut inhabiting British 
Columbia, 300. 

Race Rocks, 43 

Race, varieties of the human, repre- 
sented in Victoria, 378. Tschudi's 
classification of human hybrids, 379. 
Civil disabilities of Chinese and Ne- 
groes in California, 381. 

Racoons in Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 297. 

Rae, Dr., his route for a line of tele- 
graph from Red River to the Pacific, 
355. 

Railway, proposed interoceanic, 335. 
The scheme slow but sure, 335, 336. 
Efforts of the Americans, 342. 
Would such a line pay ? 343. The 
shortest route to Australia and China, 
343, 344. The political utility of the 
scheme, 345. The most eligible 
tract of country for laying down the 
line, 347. Value of the valley of the 
St. Laurence, 348. Central position 
of Red River Settlement, 350. 
Road via St. Paul's, 350, 351. Al- 
ledged difficulties of extending the 
line from Fort Garry to Canada, 351. 
Urgency of an emigrant route, 352. 
The course it should take from Lake 
Superior, 353. Question of adjust- 
ment of the rights of the Hudson's 



SAL 

Bay Company, 355. Passes of the 
Rocky Mountains, 362. Viscount 
Milton's account, 364 

Rain-making, mummery of, by the 
Indian medicine-men, 449 

Rain in Vancouver Island, 179 

Rape-seed oil from Japan, 124 

Rats in Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 300 

Rattray, Dr., his opinion as to the pro- 
per site for the Pacific Naval Sani- 
tarium, 12 9. His statement respecting 
the imports of coal into San Fran- 
cisco, 143. His register of the 
weather in 1860-61, 177. His table 
of the yield of crops in Vancouver 
Island, 194 

Red River Settlement, its central posi- 
tion for the proposed interoceanic 
railway, 350, 351. Telegraph being 
laid down from Red River to the 
Pacific, 356. Fertility of the land 
near Red River, 359. Memorial of 
the people of Red River Settlement 
to the British and Canadian Govern- 
ments, 375. 

Religion, state of, in Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia, 417. Reli- 
gious beliefs of the Indians, 457. Re- 
ligious bodies in Victoria, 81 

Reptiles of Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 303 

Reese River, silver mines of, 26. Popu- 
lation of the district, 27 

Roads in Vancouver Island, 204. 
Roundabout road to Cariboo, 233,234 

Rock Creek, diggings at, 242 

Rock found off Victoria, 168 

Rocker, use of the, in gold mining ope- 
rations, 267 

Rocky Mountains, gold mining on the 
eastern slopes of the, 361. Passes 
of the, 362. Viscount Milton's 
account, 363. Railway through 
the Rocky Mountains, 365 

Rupert, Fort, 49 

Russia, strides of, in the North Pacific, 
366 

SAANICH Peninsula, 45. Farms 
in the, 185 

Sacramento, trip to, 22. The state legis- 
lature in session, 22. Meeting of the 
' Democratic Convention,' 23. Pre- 
sent state of the town, 23, 24. China- 
men in, 24. Taxation at, 24. Inun- 
dation of the city of, 177 

Salmon, introduction of, into Australia, 
125. In the rivers of Vancouver 



INDEX. 



571 



SAL 

Island, 165. Great numbers found 
dead in the Columbia River, 166. 
The hook-bill, spring, and hump- 
backs, 165, 166. Indian revenue ob- 
tained from the sale of salmon, 166. 
Lucrative trade to be made in salmon, 
166. 

Salmon River, farming land at, 188. 

Salt Springs of Salt Spring Island, 48. 
Of Nanaimo, 48. On Admiralty- 
Island and at Nanaimo, 169. 

Salt Spring, Island, 48. Brine Springs 
of, 48. 

Sanitarium, the proposed, for invalided 
nava men, in the Pacific, 128. Dr. 
Rattray's opinion as to its proper site, 
129 

Sandstone of excellent quality found on 
Vancouver Island, 154 

Sandwich Islands, table of exports from 
Victoria to, in October 1864, 114. 
Native horses from the, in Vancouver 
Island, 195 

Sansum Narrows, copper mines at, 48 

Saskatchewan River district, its adapt- 
ability for colonisation, 359 . Mineral 
riches of the country, 360. Gold in 
the river, 361 

Saw-mills in Victoria, 121. At Puget 
Sound, 136 

Scalping among the Indians, 470 

Schools and Colleges in Victoria, 84. 
Schools in New Westminster, 220 

Scotch, the, in Victoria, 80 

Scott, Cape, 49 

Seals found at the mouth of the Fraser 
River, 168 

Seaton, Lake, 225 

Semihamo, city of, 66 

Septaria, nodules of, 42 

Sewage of Victoria. 87 

Sharks in the harbour of Carthagena, 
7. Their fondness for white men, 7 

Shawingan, Vancouver Island, 46. 
Farming land at, 185 

Sheep, breed of, in Vancouver Island, 
195. In British Columbia, 294. 
Mountain sheep in British Columbia, 
301 

Shells, list of, found on the coast of 
Vancouver Island, 305 

Shipbuilding in Victoria, 121 

Shuswap diggings, the, 252. Two 
routes to the, 238 

Silver mountains, 26 

Silver, yield of the mines of, at Washoe, 
26. Mills in the state of Nevada, 27. 
At Hope diggings, 241 



SWI 

Similkameen, diggings at, 242. F?rm- 
ing land in the, 288, 289 

Sitka, trade of Victoria with, 111. Table 
of exports from Victoria to Sitka, 
in October 1864, 113. Vancouver 
Island coal in demand at, 149 

Skunk, the, in Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 297 

Sluicing, method of, in gold-mining 
operations, 269 

Smelts caught in the Fraser river, 167 

Society, in Victoria, 398. The un- 
married couple, 400. Adventures 
of widows, 401. Extraordinary wed- 
ding scene, 402. Young colonists, 
406. The ' Skedaddler,' 409. The 
social pyramid reversed, 412. Ox- 
ford and Cambridge men roughing 
it, 413. Character of society in the 
interior, 414. Slang in vogue among 
miners, 415. State of religion, 417 

Soils, character of the, of Vancouver 
Island, 182. Of British Columbia, 
284 

Somenos, Vancouver Island, 46. Farm- 
ing land in, 185 

Sooke, agricultural settlement of, 43. 

Sooke River, discovery of gold on the 
banks of the, 156. Evidence of the 
richness of the district, 156-160. 
Agricultural land at, 185. Panthers 
at, 298 

South River, 46 

Sowing, times of, in Vancouver Island, 
202 

Spain, her discoveries in the Pacific, 52 

Squirrels, in Vancouver Island and 
British Columbia, 300 

Stags in Vancouver Island and British 
Columbia, 300 

Steamers, high-pressure, on the Fraser 
river, 231,232. Prodigal indifference 
of American steam-boat men to 
human life, 232 

Stickeen River, pure copper found at, 
153 

Stock used in Vancouver Island, 195. 
Cattle, sheep, and horses, 195 

Sturgeon, found in the rivers and lakes 
of British Columbia, 167. Immense 
size of the fish, 167. Caviare, 167 

Sumallow Valley, farming land in the, 
288 

Sumass, prairies at, 222, 286 

Summer Bay, 45 

Summer in Vancouver Island, 181. The 
Indian summer, 181 

Swift River, 229 



572 



INDEX. 



TAB 

rpABOGA, island of, 10 

Tadmor in the Wilderness, commerce 
of, 338 

Taylor, Dr. Lachlin, his statement re- 
specting farming in British Columhia, 
291 

Tehuantepec, Gulf of, 12 

Pen Commandments, the miners', 418 

Terceira, island of, 2 

Thomas, St., island of, 3. Harbour and 
town of, 4. Trade of, 5. Inhabitants 
of, 5. Freedom of its port, 92 

Timber of the Somenos plains, 46. Of 
South Elver, 46. Between Cape Scott 
and Koskeemo, 50. At Barclay 
Sound, 51. Great demand for tim- 
ber in, 122. Timber trade of Van- 
couver Island and British Columbia, 

131. Table of the principal varieties, 
1 3 1 , 1 32. Value of the Douglas pines, 

132. This timber compared with 
that from Riga, 133. Messrs. Ander- 
son & Co.'s export trade in timber, 

134, 135. Comparative statement 
of export of lumber, &c, from 
Alberni Mills during 1862 and 1863, 

135. Their trade in sawn timber, 
135. Timber trade of other smaller 
firms, 135. Advantages of Van- 
couver Island over New Brunswick 
and Canada as regards the timber 
trade, 137. Saving to owners of saw- 
mills who build their own ships, 138. 
Timber more remunerative to the 
common carrier than gold, 138. 
Opening for an export trade in rail- 
way sleepers, 139. Mode of render- 
ing timber proof against the destruc- 
tive action of a torrid sun, 139. 
Prices of spars, masts, &C, in Van- 
couver Island, 140. 

Townsend, Port, American town 

founded at, 66 
Trade sufficient for a steamer in the 

North Pacific, 510. 
Trades carried on in Victoria, 85. List 

of trades and professions in Victoria, 

89 
Tranquille River, diggings at, 243 
Trout of Vancouver's Island and 

British Columbia, 167. Those of 

Lake OKanagan, 167. Of the Lower 

Fraser River, 167 
Tschudi, his classification of human 

hybrids, 379 
Tunnelling, in gold mining, 276 
Turnips of British Columbia, 292 



VAN 

UNITED STATES, preparations of 
the, to receive and distribute 
eastern commerce by the construction 
of an interoceanic railway, 342. 
Appearance of citizens of the United 
States in the British Colonies, 397. 
Care bestowed by the, upon young 
colonies, 511 
Utsalady, saw-mills of, 136 



T7ALDEZ INLET, 49 

Vancouver Island, description of, 
39. The ' England of the Pacific,' 
39. Straits of Fuca, and first view of 
Vancouver Island, 40. Vegetation 
of, 40. Coast-line of, 40. Geological 
structure of, 41. Records of glacial 
phenomena in, 42, 43. Har- 
bour of Esquimalt, 43. City and 
harbour of Victoria, 40. Saanich 
Peninsula, 45. Summer Bay, 45. 
Agricultural district of Cowichan, 
46. Mr. Pemberton's explorations 
in 1857, 46. Mr. Brown's despatch, 

46 . Wild vegetation of Cowichan, 

47. Copper mines at Sansum Nar- 
rows, 47. Copper mines of Nanaimo, 

48. Comox valley, 49. Islands near 
Cape Scott, 49. Coal of Quatsino 
Inlet, 49. Koskeemo Sound, 50. 
Quatsino Bay, 50. Timber between 
Cape Scott and Koskeemo, 50. Cop- 
per lodes and quartz veins at Ac- 
cla, 50. Woody Point, 50. Barclay 
Sound, 51. The Alberni Canal, 51, 
Captain Vancouver's description 
quoted, 52. Discovery of the chan- 
nel separating Vancouver Island 
from the main land, 57. The Island 
first traversed by white men, 58. 
Grant of it to the Hudson's Bay 
Company, 58, 59. Terms of the 
grant, 59-61. Proposed union with 
British Columbia, as affecting the 
free port of Victoria, 95. Reso- 
lutions passed by the Legislature of 
Vancouver Island respecting the 
proposed union, 105. Destructive 
effect of the monopoly granted to the 
Company, 62, 63. General resources 
of Vancouver Island, 131. The 
timber trade, 131. Coal mines, 141. 
Copper mines, 151. Magnetic iron 
ore, 153. Limestone, sandstone, blue 
marble, and blue clay, 154. Gold, 154 
et seq. Fisheries, 163. Agriculture, 



INDEX. 



573 



VAN 

172. Climate, 174. Total number of 
acres belonging to Vancouver Island, 
184. Agricultural districts, 184. Mr. 
Moffat's journey across the Island 
from Nimpkish River to Nootka 
Sound, 188. Average yield of crops, 
194. Stock, 195. Prices of pro- 
duce and stock, 197-199. Animals 
and vegetables of Vancouver Island 
and British Columbia, 297. Politi- 
cal statistics of Vancouver Island, 
310. Grant of the Island to the 
Hudson's Bay Company, 310. The 
germ of Colonial Legislature, 313. 
Disputes between independent colo- 
nists and the authorities, 314. The 
first bill of appropriation, 315. 
Disproportionate paraphernalia of 
Government, 316. Sources of colo- 
nial revenue, 317. Estimates of 
colonial expenditure for 1864, 318. 
Opposition of the Legislature to the 
proposals of the Duke of Newcastle, 
320. Reception of Governor Ken- 
nedy, 322. The question of union 
between the two colonies, 323. 
Society in Vancouver Island, 378. 
Chinese in the Island, 386. The 
Negro element, 388. Governor 
Douglas, 393. Defalcations of 
officials, 399. Religion on the Island, 
417. Crime, 418. The Indians of 
the colony, 423. Land proclama- 
tions of Sir James Douglas, 528. 

Vancouver, Captain, his description 
of Vancouver Island quoted, 51. 
Sent to adjust a dispute with the 
Spanish authorities in the Pacific, 
57, 58. His survey of the Straits 
of Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, 58. 
Reaches 100 miles above Nootka, 58 

Vasco, Nunez de Balboa, his discovery 
of the Pacific Ocean, 52 

Vegetables, prices of in New West- 
minster, 293 

Vegetation of Cowichan, 47. Of 
Vancouver Island and British Colum- 
bia, 297 

Vessels, number and tonnage of, 
entered at Victoria, in 1861-1863, 
108 

Vermilion Pass, in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, 362 

Victoria, city and harbour of, 44. In- 
fluence of the discovery of gold in 
the growth of, 64, 65. Rush from 
California, 65. Sudden rise in the 
value of land, 65, 66. The rival cities 
attempted by the Americans, 66. 



VIC 

Unequalled superiority of Victoria 
Harbour, 67. Reaction in Victoria 
and return of faint-hearted specula- 
tors to California, 69. Riots of the 
'rowdies' assembled in the city, 71. 
Gloomy state of the city, 71. Yield 
of gold for the first four months, 72. 
Lowest point of depopulation, in 
1858, 73. Cheering news from Ques- 
nelle, 74. The immigration of IF 62 
and disappointment and privation of 
the inexperienced, 75, 76. Descrip- 
tion of the city of Victoria as it now 
is, 77. Population, 77. Beaconhill 
Park, 77. Walks and drives, 77. 
Public buildings, 78. The streets and 
houses, 78. Volunteer firemen, 79. 
Theatre and drinking saloons, 79. 
Police barracks, 79. Reading-room 
and library, 79. Associations for 
various purposes, 80. Foreigners in 
the city, 80. Volunteer rifle corps, 
80. The newspaper press, 81. Religi- 
ous bodies, 8 1 . Miss Burdett Coutts's 
endowment of the diocese, 81, Col- 
leges and schools, 84. Manufactories 
and joint stock companies, 85. Gas 
and water supply, 85, 86. The muni- 
cipal council, 86. Sewage of the city, 
86, 87. Want of open spaces, 87. 
Banks, 87. Augmented value of town 
property in Victoria, 88. List of 
trades and professions in Victoria, 89. 
Victoria regarded as a free port, 91. 
Importance of guarding the city 
against the introduction of customs' 
duties, 93. Proposed union with 
British Columbia as affecting the free 
port arrangement, 95. Comparative 
prospects of Victoria and New West- 
minster, 97. Amount of imports into 
the port of Victoria in 1861-1863, 
106. Number and tonnage of vessels 
entered at Victoria in 1861-1863,108. 
Trade of Victoria with the American 
States on the coast, 110. Its trade 
with Sitka and Mexico, 111. Table 
of exports of English or American 
goods for the six months ending De- 
cember 1863, 112, Exports from 
Victoria to foreign ports during the 
month of October 1864, 113. Com- 
mercial capabilities of Victoria, 116, 

117. Advantages of direct trade with, 

118. Proposal for a depot for Euro- 
pean goods, 119, 120. Effect of the 
increasing customs' restrictions of 
San Francisco upon the trade of 
Victoria, 121. Facilities for return 



574 



INDEX. 



VIL 

cargoes, 121, 123. Saw-mills and 
fisheries, 121. Ship-building in Vic- 
toria, 121. Prospective advantages 
of trade with China and Japan, 122, 
123. Effect of the commercial rela- 
tions of Vancouver Island with other 
countries on the trade of Victoria, 
125. An American view of the pro- 
spects of Victoria as a probable rival 
of San Francisco, 126. Other circum- 
stances bearing on its future as a free 
port, 126. Its proximity to the har- 
bour of Esquimalt, 127. The proposed 
sanitarium for invalided naval men, 
128. Increasing value of land within 
fifteen miles of Victoria, 191. The 
voyage from Victoria to Fraser River, 
215. Facilities of Victoria for becom- 
ing a vast emporium for Eastern 
commerce, 335. Importance of the 
proposed interoceanic railway to Vic- 
toria, 346. Varieties of the human 
race represented in Victoria, 378. 
The ultimate effect of this hetero- 
geneous mixture of types upon the 
character of the population, 380. 
White society in the city, 398. Har- 
bour dues, 525 

Villages, Indian, 443 

Vine, cultivation of the, in California, 
22 

Volunteer rifle corps in Victoria, 81 



WAGES, rates of, in Vancouver Is- 
land and British Columbia, 499 
Washington territory, table of exports 
from Victoria to, in October 1864, 
115. Population of, in 1850, and at 
present, 126, 127. Coal-fields of, 
142 
Washoe, silver mines of, 26. Rapidity 
of the rise of the town of, 27. The 
Comstock gold lead at, 155 
Water-supply in Victoria, 86 
Wedding scene, an extraordinary, 402 
Wellingtonea gigantea, the, of Cali- 
fornia, 24 



ZEA 

Wesleyans, in New Westminster, 221. 

Westminster, New, its prospects com- 
pared with those of Victoria, 97. 
Position of the city of, 216. Com- 
parative quarterly statement of im- 
ports into, 217. Shipping returns 
and customs revenue, 218. Rates of 
duties of customs now leviable at 
New Westminster upon goods, &c, 
imported into British Columbia, 219. 
Plan of the town, 219. Public build- 
ings, 219. Places of worship, 220. 
Schools, 220 

Whales in the Gulf of Georgia, 168. 
The fishing grounds of the North 
Pacific, 168. The Indian mode of 
capturing the whale, 168 note. Pre- 
sent rendezvous of North Pacific 
whalers, 169 

Wheat, prices of, in Vancouver Island, 
197 

Whiting caught off British Columbia, 
167 

Winds of Vancouver Island, 178 

Wild fowl, abundance of, in the foi*ests 
of Vancouver Island, 189 

Wild-Horse Creek diggings, 258 

William's Creek, 229. Diggings at 
Cariboo, 246 

William's Lake, paths from, to Cariboo, 
235 

Witchcraft, Indian belief in, 440 

Wolves in Vancouver's Island and Bri- 
tish Columbia, 300 

Women, openings for respectable, in 
the colonies, 496. The dance round 
a bonnet, 497 

Woody Point, 50 



TTALE, Fort, diggings at, 241 
Yale, town of, 231 



ZEALAND, 
with, 125 



New, trade of Victoria 



LONDON 

PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. 

NEW-STREET SQUARE 



V^rr^/JW 



•*$•'** 

k <w 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




017 516 253 7 



\ - 



mM **?■ J$ 



*■.«. 



.V 



If fc* ;'.■, 



.4! 



jwr 



■,n r 



l! 



*S5 



Xj>#V ^P- 









